Continue planning reforms for building new homes

The Office for Budget Responsibility reported that the reforms announced in the National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024 have not yet led to the expected growth in housing construction. Instead, according to their estimates, the industry may experience rapid growth in the future. But what is the current situation in construction, and what should be expected in the future?

The main source: OBR: Planning reforms still to deliver new homes

The current stage of the project

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2026 forecast was published alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement. It indicates that changes to the National Planning Policy Framework have not yet yielded the anticipated housing construction boom.

In its March 2025 EFO report stated that the NPPF reforms could “increase housing construction by 170,000 over the next five years. The OBR is responsible for providing independent analysis of public spending. It may result in a cumulative net increase in the UK housing stock of 1.3 million between 2025–26 and 2029–30. This is a huge increase up to 16 percent. Beyond the forecast horizon, the annual net addition to the UK housing stock will reach a forty-year high of 305,000 per year.”

A year earlier, the OBR acknowledged that the impact of the changes would be relatively small: “This would represent a significant acceleration in the pace of housebuilding. It would also increase the UK housing stock of more than 32 million by only 0.5 percent by the end of the decade.”

How will planning reforms develop in the near future?

Today, the OBR reported that even these modest attempts to meet demand for new housing have not yet had any impact on the housing crisis. “The net increase in the UK housing stock is expected to fall. We forecast drop from an average of 260,000 per year in the 2020s to a low of 220,000 in 2026–27. That`s because the recent slowdown in housebuilding continues to take effect.”

However, the agency also provided hope for the future. “We expect net additions to the housing stock to rise sharply reflecting the impact of planning reforms. It may grow to more than 305,000 by 2030–31. ”

Fencyx, as one of the leaders in the UK building industry, is following this situation closely. We hope that all reforms will be successfully implemented and that the construction sector will experience a real boom.