The latest dwelling stock estimates from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities found that, at the end of March, there were around 25.2 million dwellings in the UK. That’s up by 232,820 on the same point last year, a rise of 0.93 per cent.
The data found that 16.1 million dwellings are owner occupied, up by 210,000 on the previous year. The number of private rented homes increased by 11,000 over the 12 months to 4.9 million.
The 0.93 per cent increase in overall dwellings is up on the 0.87 per cent rise seen in the previous year, but is lower than the 1.01 per cent growth seen in 2019 and 2020.
According to the most recent data there are around 676,304 vacant dwellings in England. That’s up by 3.6 per cent on the year before, and represents 2.7 per cent of the dwelling stock.
Of those, almost 250,000 have been vacant for a long-term period, representing one per cent of the dwelling stock in England.
New home building falls
The government data comes after recent figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) found that there were 27,673 new homes registered to be built in the first quarter of the year, down by 40 per cent on the same period in 2022. Completions for the quarter were also down by seven per cent on an annual basis.
Despite this, the NHBC noted that there had been a seven per cent rise in new home completions over the year to date, taking it to the highest level seen since 2008.
Steve Wood, CEO of NHBC, said: “Emerging from the economic shocks of 2022 and getting to grips with a demanding regulatory environment, the data indicates housebuilders are taking stock, planning their output carefully and matching it to expected demand.
“While output may have slowed, building at a more controlled rate helps drive quality, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for the consumer.”
