Labour oversaw a fall in the number of net additional houses during their first full year in power, according to damning new statistics published this morning.

Despite coming to power on a pledge to ramp up house building and create 1.5 million new homes by the next election, official figures released today showed that Angela Rayner presided over a decrease in the rate of housebuilding from 2024 to 2025.

The number of net new additional dwellings in England was 208,600 in Labour’s first year in power, a 6% drop from 2023-24 during the Tories’ final year in office.

Just 190,600 new homes were built – a fall of 8,000 (4%) on the Tories’ final year in power – suggesting Labour is on course to fall well short of their 1.5 million pledge.

If Labour failed to increase this rate of housebuilding, they would complete fewer than one million new homes by 2029.

According to the Housing Department figures, the number of net new additional dwellings created during Labour’s first year in power was 9,000 fewer than in 2020-2021, when the country was largely subject to Covid lockdowns.

It is the lowest number of additional housing added to the country’s stock since 2016, and excluding Covid is the largest year-on-year drop since 2012-13.

While Labour has introduced a number of regulatory reforms to increase housebuilding, they’ve also been accused of simultaneously bringing in fresh red tape that is slowing it down.

Things are particularly bad in London, the part of the country with the acutest housing crisis, where Sadiq Khan has overseen a total stalling of housebuilding.

Other statistics published this morning on affordable housing showed that London’s rate of building is now dragging down figures for the rest of the country, with the number of starts down 82% since 2022-23.

The number of London affordable rent properties that began construction this year was below ten units for the second year in a row. The number of affordable rent homes in London this year came to just over 5,000, but the department warned this number will “decline in future years”.

The Tories’ shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly blasted Labour’s record as “abysmal”.

Reacting to the new data, he slammed: “Their own statistics are a damning indictment of their failed housing policy. New builds are down to a level below what the Conservatives achieved during a global pandemic.

“Labour’s much-trumpeted target of 1.5 million homes is dead in the water. Clearly, they have no plan for delivering new homes. So much for ‘build, baby, build.’

“Only the Conservatives will provide the housing we need, including by abolishing stamp duty for primary residences to unfreeze the housing market.”

Last month, Hamptons claimed that the number of housebuilders trading in the UK has fallen by over 1,500 in the year to September, dealing another blow to the government’s ambitions.

In September Steve Reed, the new housing secretary appointed to replace Ms Rayner, insisted that he would leave no stone unturned to secure the party’s election pledges.

Today, reacting to the news, Mr Reed once again tried blaming his Tory predecassors.

He argued: “Today’s figures show, in the clearest terms yet, the extent of the housing crisis we inherited and are now fixing.

“We took over a planning system that blocked rather than built, and high inflation and soaring construction costs that created a perfect storm holding back housebuilding.

“Our 1.5 million homes target is not just a number – it’s a way to give children a secure home, for young people finally to move out and enjoy independence, and for working families to have place to call their own.

“We have already taken down the barriers that stopped this country from building, overhauled the planning system and pumped record investment into social housing.

“This will bring about the change we need to end the housing crisis by getting spades in the ground wherever homes are needed most.”