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Published: 08/05/2024
ONS publishes quarterly data on housing starts and completions carried out by private enterprises, housing associations and local authorities across the UK.
Data is collected from a range of sources, including local authority new build form returns, National House Building Council (NHBC) data, approved inspector data returns, Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme, and District Council Building Control in Northern Ireland.
Housing starts dropped again in final quarter of 2023
Housing starts in the UK decreased in the fourth quarter of 2023, with 23,360 starts recorded in the latest provisional data from ONS. This was down 18% on the number of dwellings started in the previous quarter, and 40% less than the number of starts in 4Q2022.
England accounted for 15,860 of the starts, 77% of which were by private enterprises. The number of private enterprise starts (12,250) was down by 48% on the same quarter in the previous year.
In Wales, the number of starts in 4Q2023 increased by 32% from 3Q2023 and was up 90% when compared to the same period last year. Scotland saw a 9% increase on a quarterly basis and a 2% drop on the year, while Northern Ireland also showed increases.
All dwellings starts
| Starts in 4Q2023 | Change from 3Q2023 | % change from 4Q2022 | |
| UK | 23,360 | -18% | -40% |
| England | 15,860 | -28% | -51% |
| Wales | 1,880 | +32% | +90% |
| Scotland | 4,040 | +9% | -2% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,580 | +24% | +27% |
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1b
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1b
On the completions side, a total number of 50,650 dwellings were completed in 4Q2023, which was 10% more than in the previous quarter, and 16% down on completions in 4Q2022.
While all parts of the UK saw quarterly increases in 4Q2023, they all had annual decreases.
All dwellings completions
| 4Q2023 | Change from 3Q2023 | % change from 4Q2022 | |
| UK | 50,650 | +10% | -16% |
| England | 42,230 | +9% | -16% |
| Wales | 1,540 | +52% | -15% |
| Scotland | 5,390 | +8% | -15% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,490 | +18% | -18% |
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1b
In England, of the 42,230 dwellings completed in 4Q2023, 73% were by private enterprises. Housing associations were responsible for 10,760, or one in four, completions, while local authorities accounted for 2%.
Compared to pre-Covid building activity in England, completions were down 15% on 4Q2019.
Source: ONS – House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country, Table 1b
Karl Horton, Chief Data Officer at BCIS, said: ‘House builders continue to face challenging trading conditions, although many have been reporting improved demand through the early months of 2024.
‘Also tellingly, brick deliveries in Great Britain for the same period, 4Q2023, were down by 28.6% on 4Q2022, though they did pick up in the latest data for 1Q2024.
‘Of course, as both client and contractor, bigger house builders have the ability to reduce their operations according to demand, which we can see in the reduced numbers.
‘Clearly the impact of high interest rates is going to feed through in the data for some time and the timescale for the Bank of England reducing the base rate is going to be critical in terms of having a positive effect on affordability in the market.’
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