The chief executive of Lloyds Bank has warned the government needs to move “bolder and faster” to accelerate housebuilding, as new analysis shows the UK is on track to miss its 1.5 million new homes target this parliament by a wide margin.
Labour came to power 18 months ago promising a housing boom, but there has been no discernible pick-up in activity, which remains historically weak.
In London, where demand is most acute, the number of new home starts has fallen to its lowest level in decades.
“New homes are where communities are built and lives are lived. We do think there is a massive need to get real about the task in front of us,” Charlie Nunn, Lloyds chief executive, told ITV News at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In the first year of the parliament, 143,570 homes were built in England – less than half the annual rate needed to meet the government’s manifesto pledge.
The number of planning applications is a key indicator of whether construction activity will rise. Typically, around 90% of applications are approved, but only two-thirds get built.
Barbour ABI, which tracks every full planning application submitted to local authorities in England, shows that throughout 2025 there was an average of 18,389 applications per month, rising to 19,769 in the second half of the year.
Britain Remade calculates that 44,850 planning applications per month would be required for the government to meet the 1.5 million homes target before the next election.
“Hitting the 1.5 million target now would take a miracle,” says Sam Richards, chief executive of the campaign organisation.
“The government needs an urgent, unprecedented, and sustained surge in planning applications. Unless there is a dramatic change, this government won’t even outbuild the last one whose housing record they rightly criticised.”
Even under optimistic assumptions, on current trends Britain Remade forecasts the government will only deliver 806,000 new homes by the end of the parliament – falling almost 700,000 short of its target.
Developers say a number of factors have held them back in recent years.
Higher interest rates have made it more expensive to fund projects and limited what buyers can afford. The cost of materials and labour has also shot up due to inflation.
On top of this, tougher post-Grenfell safety rules, higher energy-efficiency standards, environmental obligations, and council demands for affordable housing are adding further costs.
Inflation has now eased and interest rates have fallen, and the government hopes that planning reform will encourage more construction.
Lloyds Bank is the UK’s largest mortgage provider and says it has helped half a million first-time buyers become homeowners since 2018, while also financing construction firms, housing associations, and private landlords.
Charlie Nunn believes there are reasons to be hopeful.
He says the government’s commitment to spend £39 billion on social and affordable housing over the next decade should “see spades in the ground this year”.
The creation of a new National Housing Bank with £16 billion of investment could “materially unlock more housebuilding”.
But he warns more must be done: planning rules need to be simpler and faster, councils need to work more closely with smaller developers, and the government needs new ways to fund affordable homes.
“One of the easy things in my role is to always say ‘yes, bolder and faster’. I think in this case, we do need action and we need action in 2026,” he told ITV News.
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