There  has been a negligible increase in new housing over the past year, according the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics, despite repeated government pledges to increase supply. 

ONS figures show there has been just a 1 per cent increase in net additional dwellings in England in the 12 months to April 2020. 

However this figure is higher than the number of new dwellings that have been added over the past 20 years. It falls short though of previous government targets, with the Conservative party pledging in 2019 to build ‘at least a million more homes’ within  five years.

These 243,777 net new dwellings comprised of 220,600 new build homes and 26,930 gains from change of use between non-domestic and residential, 4,340 gains from houses converted into flats, and 930 other gains (this includes caravans and house boats.) This additional housing was offset by 9,020 housing demolitions over this period.

The ONS figures show that 12,348 of these net additions from change of use were through ‘permitted development rights’ where full planning permission is not required. This included 10,589 dwelling from former offices, 734 from agricultural building, 146 from storage buildings, 47 from light industrial buildings and 832 from other non-domestic buildings. 

This data set shows that net additional dwelling reached a peak of 223,530 in 2007-08 but then reduced in the following years with the economic downturn. Levels seen for this year are 9 per cent above this previous peak and 95 per cent above the trough in 2012-13.

Commenting on these figures Octane Capital chief executive Jonathan Samuels says:  “The negligible increase in England’s net housing supply compared to the previous year reflects the almost frenzied Brexit-related uncertainty of 2019.”

He adds that this trend may continue. “While Brexit paralysis will have played a role in the flatlining of the net housing supply last year, we’re clearly going to see a material drop in the current year due to the pandemic.”

Samuels welcomed the announcement by chancellor Rishi Sunak of a £7.1bn national home building fund in this week’s Spending Review. But he says that while this should, in theory, encourage more house building “similar initiatives over the years have failed to seriously tackle the lack of supply.”

Samuels adds: “In recent years, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in houses being converted into multiple units and bigger houses, once planning permission is secured, being transformed into Houses in Multiple Occupation.

“Landlords have been doing this as it helps them to manufacture value out of their properties in the form of higher yields and increased values.

“Commercial to residential conversions have also been growing in number given the more relaxed rules around planning as a whole.

“With the number of PRS developments growing by the day, we have also seen a significant increase in the number of landlords refurbishing their existing properties in order to remain attractive to prospective tenants.

“While this isn’t adding to the net housing supply, it is certainly enhancing and improving it.”