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?

We don’t yet have official figures on the number of net additional dwellings under Labour. These figures are usually released every November and refer to the previous financial year, so we don’t expect to have complete data which covers any of Labour’s first year in office until November 2025.

But based on estimates which have been published, 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.

The government has now started to produce 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 June 2025, there was a net addition of 186,600 homes—just over 12% 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 the current rate of building, it would take over six and a half more years for the pledge to be met.

Furthermore, 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—nearly double the latest estimate.

Mr Pennycook said in July 2025 that the government will not set “annual interim targets”.

The government has said, however, that annual progress against the target will not be even. On 9 July 2025, transport secretary Heidi Alexander stated: “We have always said that 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.”

It is possible as Ms Alexander said that the pace of building will “ramp up”, but for now we’ve taken a view on progress based on the government’s own metrics and the data we have so far. We’ll keep a close eye on new data as it’s released and update our verdict as required.

Aside from the data cited above, there has been speculation that the target will be very hard to meet.

Following the government’s Spring Statement in March 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that around 1.3 million additional dwellings would be added to the UK’s stock between 2025/26 and 2029/30, around 170,000 of which it attributed to changes made by the government to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). But this forecast period doesn’t precisely align with the duration of the current parliament, as it excludes 2024/25 and includes several months after the latest date the next general election can be held.

We’re not sure exactly how many of these forecast 1.3 million 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.

The chancellor Rachel Reeves said the OBR’s March 2025 forecast took the government “within touching distance” of meeting its manifesto promise, but some commentators instead suggested the forecast means the government won’t reach its target.

Giving evidence to the Housing Committee on 15 July 2025, Mr Pennycook said that the OBR’s March 2025 forecast did not account for government policies aside from the NPPF, such as the potential impact of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill or funding for social and affordable homes outlined in the Spending Review.

Previously, the head of housing and planning policy at the National Federation of Builders told the i in November 2024 that there is “no chance” the 1.5 million-home target will be met within the five-year parliamentary term.

Nevertheless, the government’s “Plan for Change”, launched on 5 December 2024, included “building 1.5 million homes in England” as one of the government’s “milestones”—targets it wants to achieve by the end of this parliament.