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Supply, supply, supply

ended 10. March 2022

A report has just emerged from the ONS showing the number of homes being built in England decreasedin  the last three months of 2021. Two key takeaways points below. 

  • The number of dwellings where - according to building control figures - building work has started on site was 41,600 in October to December 2021. This is a 3 per cent decrease when compared to last quarter and is a 3 per cent decrease when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
  • The number of dwellings completed - according to building control figures - was 41,330 in October to December 2021. This is a 4 per cent decrease when compared to last quarter and is an 11 per cent decrease when compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Newspage sought the views of property experts around the UK….

9 responses from the Newspage community

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Lee Griffiths
Senior Sales Manager at Picker Elliott Sales & Lettings
"Although I sense unease in the market, largely due to insanely high house price growth, we're still valuing properties at figures that logically don't make sense. These prices are still being achieved and it is almost solely down to the fact that there are so few homes available for sale. This level of growth is absolutely not sustainable, and the only way this 'artificial' growth will be controlled is to introduce quality housing stock to the market. Many people I speak to are worried about house prices crashing, but there's nothing out there that really suggests this is going to happen. Growth may slow, but I can't see house prices dropping any time soon due to the extreme lack of supply."
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Financial Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
"With the cost of building materials having increased so sharply over the past couple of years (assuming that you can even get hold of the materials you need), it's no real surprise that many house builders have mothballed sites and slowed down the amount of work being done. Their profit projections will have all been worked out with lower material costs involved, and they are now faced with a shortage of skilled construction workers who are willing to graft at the rates of pay planned for the original development. Even with a healthy contingency built into the projected costs, I'm pretty sure most sites look nowhere near as profitable as they did when they were started. The nub of the problem is profit. Houses are built in the UK by businesses looking to make money. Lots of money. They are not social enterprises building houses for the greater good. The abject lack of supply suits housebuilders just fine."
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Lewis Shaw
Owner and Mortgage Expert at Shaw Financial Services
"This data perfectly illustrates why our property market is defying all expectations with double digit house price growth. Our property market is firing on all cylinders purely because of a lack of supply causing an imbalance and forcing prices higher, not because we’ve got a growing economy. The reality is that house prices will likely keep rising until we fix the structural issue and build more quality homes faster. It will be fascinating if house prices continue to rise as we enter our spring, summer and winter of discontent and the seemingly inevitable recession."
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Imran Hussain
Director at Harmony Financial Services
"This report highlights exactly why house prices remain stronger than Thor's hammer right now. As long as demand continues to outstrip supply and until the planning process is looked at in detail to speed up the process for small and large developers, this massive imbalance will continue."
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Rhys Schofield
Brand Director at Peak Mortgages and Protection
"This report tells you all you need to know about why house prices continue to rise. Demand is outstripping supply and will continue to do so when there are extreme shortages of materials and every proposed new development has to smash down a wall of NIMBYism to even get off the ground in the first place."
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Graham Cox
Founder at Self-Employed Mortgage Hub
"Against the backdrop of Omicron and rising living costs, it's not hugely surprising to see a fall in the number of homes being built in the final quarter of last year. It's a shame, of course, because we desperately need to address the UK's chronic lack of affordable housing. We've been promised a huge ramp-up in housebuilding for years, but nothing seems to change. The bottom line is, property in this country remains massively overpriced. Help to Buy (a misnomer if ever there was one), years of ultra-cheap credit, and the Chancellor's ill-advised stamp duty holiday have seen to that. It's time for a radical rethink about how we view property in this country. You'd think building more houses would be fairly straightforward, but Government ineptitude scuppers that each time."
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Ian Hewett
Founder at The Bearded Mortgage Broker
"With a limited stock on sale, demand is hugely outstripping supply. This is driving up the costs, at the same time as "affordable housing" has not really been the magic formula many hoped. This means that older properties are more in demand than new. With the large developments flooding the south east, houses are being built on greenfield, brownfield and flood plains to try and keep up with demand. And whilst NIMBYSM exists, it really does not make a massive difference as most of the developments will happen, whether they like it or not unfortunately. The main concern is how the infrastructure is going to cope and what the plans are to improve the road networks, medical support and education. What we need is a good portal to complain through."
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Toby Fields
Director at Langley House Mortgages
"This report is damning and a huge sucker punch for buyers. The lack of supply of houses is causing astounding competition for each property on the market and therefore driving prices up. We are hearing from local estate agents that there are at least 25 buyers per property and buyers are desperate to purchase, offering hugely over the asking price, some without even viewing the property. With more and more deposits coming from the Bank of Mum and Dad, some buyers will have much more leeway if a higher deposit is needed, again allowing more competition and higher prices. Until we are building more houses, I cannot see property prices plateauing."
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Paul Neal
Mortgages & Equity Release Advisor at First Choice Financial Services
"This is sad, sad news if you are looking at getting on the property ladder. The odds are stacked against would-be buyers and with a lack of stock, prices will only go up further. Something really needs to be done to help Generation Rent. Stamp Duty holidays and government-backed mortgages are all well and good, but if there are no properties to purchase, what's the point?"