Housebuilders’
planning applications increased by 7% last year according to new construction
industry research by Glenigan.
The study shows that
detailed planning applications submitted by volume housebuilders and private
residential developers in 2018 contained 178,421 units. This figure is up from
166,341 units in 2017 and a record total.
With other research
by Glenigan showing that registered social landlords applied to build 24,164
social units in 2018, the overall pipeline of homes proposed by private
developers and RSLs has passed 200,000 for the first time since Glenigan’s
construction analysis began.
When Glenigan’s
research into the number of units included in planning applications started in
2003, the planning pipeline for private homes comprised 119,005 units. The
annual pipeline grew to 164,197 units in 2004 only to crumble as the recession
took hold.
That 2004 figure was
only finally beaten in 2016 and successive totals have been new record highs.
This may not
translate into an immediate rise in private residential activity, but the
results suggest that further out housebuilders and residential developers are
still looking to increase activity.
Glenigan’s economics
director Allan Wilén explains: “A cooling UK housing market is forecast to hold
back overall sector activity but Build to Rent is predicted to be a rapidly
growing niche market.
“The value of
private housing projects starting on site fell by an estimated 11% last year as
housebuilders prioritised building out existing developments and opened fewer
new sites.
“A small 1% decline
is anticipated for 2019, but the extension of Help to Buy to 2023 should lift
housebuilders’ confidence to open up new sites despite subdued activity in the
wider housing market. We predict a return to stronger growth from 2020.”
Glenigan tracked a
rise in all planning activity for all house-types in 2018.
The biggest increase
in planned new homes was for bungalows, which surged by 76%. This was from a
small base and only just over 700 private new-build bungalows were proposed
last year, which is just 0.6% of all planned new private units.
Submissions for some
form of house rose by 4.3%, and there was a resurgence in plans for apartments.
The number of flats
in planning applications leapt nearly 29% last year and this type of home
comprised 12.9% of the total units proposed in 2018 – up from 11.4% in 2017.
However, prior to
the last crash 33.6% of proposed new homes were apartments and 61.8% were
houses.
This changed as the
recession led to a serious over-hang of unsold flats in urban locations. The
successive rise in planned new apartments by Glenigan suggests increased
demand.
Concerns also
emerged last year about the impact of the ban on leases on new homes on the
retirement sector, but planned units in this sector also increased by 6%. In
2018, plans were submitted for 3,225 retirement dwellings.
Two thirds of these
units were proposed by McCarthy & Stone and Churchill, which bears out
Glenigan’s construction research published last year that showed the bulk of
retirement homes were being built by these two companies.
While concerns hang
over the private residential sector in the short term, the fundamentals appear
to remain strong further out.
