Housing Completions Since the 1950's

 

The story of UK housing completions over the last 70 years is a tale of shifting responsibilities and changing priorities. As this chart shows, local authorities played a leading role in building new homes during the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the form of council houses. 

 

However, from the late 1970s onwards, this role diminished significantly, largely due to policy changes and funding cuts. In their place, housing associations emerged, attempting to fill the gap in social housing, but even they rely heavily on government funding to meet their goals.

 

Meanwhile, private enterprises have maintained a steady contribution to housing completions, yet it's clear they alone cannot meet the government’s ambitious target of 300,000 new homes per year. To reach numbers comparable to those seen in the mid-20th century, a significant scale-up is required, but who will be responsible for this surge? Who will pay for it?

 

Both housing associations and local authorities depend on government resources, and with limited funding, it's uncertain whether they can rise to the challenge.

 

This raises a pressing question for us locally. If Huddersfield is to play its part in meeting these targets, where should these new homes be built? We face a complex balancing act between preserving green spaces, ensuring infrastructure can cope, and providing the quality housing our community needs. 

 

So, we ask: if we must build more homes in Huddersfield, where should they go?

UK Households 1996 - 2023

The composition of UK households has evolved significantly between 1996 and 2023, with some subtle yet meaningful proportional shifts that reflect changing demographics and societal trends.

 

For couples with children, their share of total households has dropped from 31.1% in 1996 to 27.9% in 2023, a proportional decrease of approximately 10.3%. This reflects lifestyle changes, including delayed parenthood and smaller family sizes.

 

In contrast, one-person households have risen from 27.8% to 29.6%, a proportional increase of 6.5%. This growth likely reflects an ageing population, as well as more individuals choosing to live alone due to greater financial independence or personal preference.

 

Couples without children have seen a smaller proportional increase, rising from 27.4% to 28.1%, an increase of just 2.6%. This stability underlines the continuing trend of dual-income households and couples choosing alternative priorities to raising children.

 

Lone-parent households, meanwhile, have grown from 9.9% to 10.6%, a proportional rise of 7.1%.

 

Interestingly, households with two or more unrelated adults have seen a proportional decline of 6.5%, decreasing from 3.1% to 2.9%, potentially reflecting challenges such as rising housing costs or changing rental practices.

 

Multi-family households, although still rare, have increased from 0.7% to 1.0%, a proportional jump of 42.9%, likely driven by economic pressures and the resurgence of multigenerational living. These proportional changes, though subtle, provide insights into the UK’s shifting household dynamics. 

 

For towns like Huddersfield, they highlight the importance of tailored housing policies and estate agency services that respond to evolving needs, including single-person housing, multigenerational homes, and affordability concerns.

 

This information is important for lots of people; including national and local government for the provision of services and future housing, buy-to-let investors knowing what sort of demand there will be different types of properties in the future and finally any homeowners wanting to know how demographic changes will affect the property market and house prices in the long term.

 The composition of UK households has evolved significantly between 1996 and 2023, with some subtle yet meaningful proportional shifts that reflect changing demographics and societal trends.

 

For couples with children, their share of total households has dropped from 31.1% in 1996 to 27.9% in 2023, a proportional decrease of approximately 10.3%. This reflects lifestyle changes, including delayed parenthood and smaller family sizes.

 

In contrast, one-person households have risen from 27.8% to 29.6%, a proportional increase of 6.5%. This growth likely reflects an ageing population, as well as more individuals choosing to live alone due to greater financial independence or personal preference.

 

Couples without children have seen a smaller proportional increase, rising from 27.4% to 28.1%, an increase of just 2.6%. This stability underlines the continuing trend of dual-income households and couples choosing alternative priorities to raising children.

 

Lone-parent households, meanwhile, have grown from 9.9% to 10.6%, a proportional rise of 7.1%.

 

Interestingly, households with two or more unrelated adults have seen a proportional decline of 6.5%, decreasing from 3.1% to 2.9%, potentially reflecting challenges such as rising housing costs or changing rental practices.

 

Multi-family households, although still rare, have increased from 0.7% to 1.0%, a proportional jump of 42.9%, likely driven by economic pressures and the resurgence of multigenerational living. These proportional changes, though subtle, provide insights into the UK’s shifting household dynamics. 

 

For towns like Huddersfield, they highlight the importance of tailored housing policies and estate agency services that respond to evolving needs, including single-person housing, multigenerational homes, and affordability concerns.

 

This information is important for lots of people; including national and local government for the provision of services and future housing, buy-to-let investors knowing what sort of demand there will be different types of properties in the future and finally any homeowners wanting to know how demographic changes will affect the property market and house prices in the long term.

 

UK Property Market Infographic

 

• Listings (New properties coming on to the market): 29k UK listings this week (week 46). YTD 2024, listings are 8% higher compared to 2023 YTD.

 

• % of Resi Sales Stock being reduced (Monthly): 13% of Resi sales stock was reduced in the last month. 14% last month and long term 5 year average 10.6%.

 

• Total Gross Sales: 24.2k UK homes sold stc this week (Week 46), slightly more than last week.  19.2% higher than the same standalone week (week 46) in 2023. Also, 8.5% higher than 2017/18/19 YTD levels & 14.9% higher than 2023 YTD levels. 

 

• Sale Thru rate (Monthly): UK Estate Agents sold 16.11% of their Resi sales stock in Oct ’24. Sept ‘ 24 was 14.79%. 2024 average is 15.86% & the 7 year long term average is 17.9% per month - yet don’t forget that was only in mid/late 20%’s in the crazy years of 20/21/22).

 

• Sale fall-throughs: For the week 46, Sale Fall Thrus (as a % of Gross sales Agreed) dropped significantly to 25% (down from 28.8% last week). The 7 year Long Term weekly Average is 24.2% and it was 40%+ in the two months following the Truss Budget in the Autumn of 2022. Agents lost 5.8% of their sales pipeline in Oct’24 (up from 5.6% in Sept ‘ 24).

 

• Net Sales: 18.1k this week (17k last week). 18.2% higher than the same week 46 in 2023, 76% higher than the same week 46 in 2022 & still 17.3% higher YTD in 2024 compared to YTD 2023.

 

• % of Homes exchanging vs homes unsold: Of the 1,358,587 UK homes that left UK Estate Agents books since the 1st Jan 2024, 728,138 of them (53.6%) exchanged & completed contracts (meaning the homeowner moved and the estate agent got paid). The remaining 630,449 (46.4%) were withdrawn off the market, unsold. In essence you a flip of the coin chance of actually selling, homeowners moving and the estate agent getting paid. 

 

• UK House Prices: As explained in the show, the £/sqft figure foretells and predicts the Land Registry 5 months in advance with an accuracy rating of 92%. Final October figures saw a slight jump in this important metric to £346/sq.ft. For comparison - Sept’s £339/sq.ft, August’s £338/sq.ft, and July at £341/sq.ft. This means house prices are slightly growing.

 

• Resi Sales Stock on the Market: (Monthly Stat) : 725k at end of October (up from 724k at end of Sept). For comparison, Oct ’23 - 664k, Oct ’22 - 523k,  Oct ’21 - 425k, Oct ’20 - 681k, Oct ’19 - 652k.

 

Resi Sales Sold STC Pipeline: (Units) (Monthly Stat): 505k at end of October. For comparison, Oct ’23 - 401k, Oct ’22 - 483k,  Oct ’21 - 528k, Oct ’20 - 548k, Oct ’19 - 372k.