What does the pledge mean? 

There are two main sets of statistics that give us an idea of how many new homes are being built. ‘Net additional dwellings’ measures the change in overall housing stock and includes new build houses, as well as conversions, demolitions and changes of use, while ‘indicators of new supply’ gives an idea of how many new homes are being started and completed. 

When we asked the government which measure this pledge referred to, it said it was “aiming to deliver 1.5 million net new dwellings over the next five years”, and pointed us towards data for net additional dwellings. 

The government also confirmed this was the measure it was using to the BBC in August 2024, despite the minister for housing, Matthew Pennycook, previously suggesting the target referred to new starts.

In October 2024, Mr Pennycook confirmed to Parliament that the target refers only to England. Housing is a matter for devolved governments. 

So, the government has given itself until no later than August 2029, the latest the next general election can be held, for 1.5 million “net additional dwellings” to be added to England’s housing stock. 

At Full Fact, we’ve often seen contrasting claims about how many houses have been built in recent years, as there are lots of different ways housing data can be summarised—for instance, statistics can be seasonally adjusted or unadjusted, or quarterly or annual, and what they’re measuring can also vary. So we think it’s important to be clear from the outset about what metric this pledge refers to. 

What progress has been made?

Official net additional dwellings figures for the financial year 2024/25 were released in November 2025 and show 208,600 homes were added to England’s stock in 2024/25 (in 2023/24 221,410 homes were added).

While these stats don’t only cover Labour’s time in government, or indeed the entire period since Labour won the election, the government has produced estimates of the number of net additional dwellings that have been added to England’s housing stock since July 2024, using new Energy Performance Certificate lodgements (and accounting for demolitions).

This data estimates that between 9 July 2024 and 15 March 2026, there was a net addition of 342,100 homes—around 22.8% of the total target of 1.5 million. This suggests that the government will need to pick up the pace of building in order to hit its target this parliament. At this rate of building, from 16 March 2026 it would take over five and a half more years for the pledge to be met, by our rough calculations.

Based on the government’s new estimates and the net additional dwellings data we have so far, we’re currently rating this pledge as “appears off track”—and this also appears to be the view of many in the sector as well.

In October 2025, the Home Builders Federation reportedly warned the target would be missed.

In its forecast for the 2025 Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said it thought cumulative net additions between 2024/25 and 2029/30 would be 1.49 million across the UK. But this forecast period doesn’t precisely align with the duration of the current parliament, as it includes several months after the latest date the next general election can be held and the final few months of the previous Conservative government.

We’re not sure exactly how many of these forecast homes are expected to contribute to England’s housing stock specifically—the OBR told Full Fact its forecast does not have a nation-by-nation breakdown.

In March 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published an “estimated trajectory for the number of new domestic dwelling completions in England” between 2026 and 2035. This estimates that by the end of 2028/29, around 1.1 million homes will have been added to England’s stock (though this estimate includes estimates for 2024/25, which includes a few months of the previous Conservative government, and doesn’t take into account homes that may be completed in 2029 between the end of the fiscal year and the date of the next election).

The MHCLG did warn these estimates “are indicative and used for appraisal purposes only”, and said: “They do not represent an official forecast of changes in housing supply and should be taken as for appraisal purposes only.”

In December 2024, alongside the publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework, the government published figures for the number of homes needed “at the level [it considers] appropriate”. While each local authority received its own annual figure as part of this plan, it stipulates that 370,408 new homes are needed in England each year.

Mr Pennycook said in July 2025 that the government will not set “annual interim targets”, while the transport secretary Heidi Alexander said in the same month: “The number of new homes that are built each year will ramp up over the course of the parliament. And so it’s not going to be the case that you just divide 1.5 by the five years of the parliament and say that you have to reach 300,000 homes in that first year, it’s obviously less than that in the first year.”