In the 12 months to March 2024, the number of both units and sites has continued to plummet to record lows.

The number of units achieving planning permission in the year ending Q1 2024 was 236,644, the lowest 12 month total for almost a decade - since Q3 2014. Year on year, this is a 13% drop, and 22% on the year to Q1 2022.

The number of units approved during Q1 2024 – 53,862 – is the lowest quarterly total Q2 2015. This is a 19% drop on the previous quarter and 13% on the same period last year.

Looking regionally, some areas saw even greater drops in the number of units being approved. In London, 7,613 units were approved in Q1 2024. This is the lowest quarterly figure since 2012. Additionally, it is a 39% drop on the same period last year and a 51% drop compared to Q4 2023. The rolling 12 month total for units approved in London was the lowest since Q3 2015.

Other regions seeing significant drops were the East Midlands, which saw a 47% drop on the previous quarter and 36% drop compared to Q1 2023; Yorkshire and the Humber which saw a 33% drop on the previous quarter; and the South East, which saw a 24% drop on Q4 2023.

Looking to sites, the number granted permission in Q1 2024 in England – 2,472 – was the lowest quarterly figure since the Housing Pipeline Report begun recording, in 2006 and was a 10% drop on the previous quarter. It is around half of the number of sites that were being approved in the latter half of the 2010s, when housing supply was at its peak. At 10,406, the rolling 12 month total was also the lowest on record and dropped 13% on the 12 months to Q1 2023.

The number of sites gaining planning permission dropped 25% quarter on quarter in London; 23% in both the East of England and East Midlands and 22% in Yorkshire and the Humber.

For private housing only, the number of units approved in England dropped 21% quarter on quarter and 10% year on year. Social housing saw a 12% drop quarter on quarter, and a 34% drop year on year.