Set ddata Indicators of House building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by local authority

Housing is a devolved area of government. This release brings together published data from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to provide annual Local Authority totals for newly built dwellings. This allows users to easily compare over time and between areas.

These statistics provide a timely leading indicator of housing supply. However, they do not cover all house building in the UK, because not all house building projects are included in the building inspection data on which the statistics are based. 

For England, the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply is the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG)’s annual Housing supply: net additional dwellings series. This is a more complete (but less frequent) measure of changes to the size of the dwelling stock, based on the more detailed annual returns from local authorities and the Greater London Authority. In addition to new-build completions, the net additional dwelling series includes conversions, demolitions and changes of use.

Similarly, Scottish government’s Supply of new housebuilding reports on new-build activity by sector. It also includes conversions and changes of use. These additional components help record the different ways homes are created, providing a more comprehensive understanding of new housing supply.