Decline in small house builders continues, warns FMB

March 20, 2025

New figures for planning applications in 2024, published by the Government today show worrying signs that, despite the push to boost house building rates, permissions granted to small sites of 9 units or fewer are down, demonstrating the smallest house builders are struggling to get homes delivered, warns the FMB.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB commented: “It is deeply disappointing to see the number of planning applications granted for developments of 9 or fewer units in 2024 were down significantly on the previous year, by almost 2,000. This means a mere 9% of homes delivered will be from the nation’s small local house builders – an increasingly dwindling part of the sector. The Housing Minister has been clear about the need to diversify the housing market away from a reliance on a small number of high-volume builders, yet today’s figures show more needs to be done.”

Berry continued: “What sets small, local builders apart is that they come from the very communities they build for, delivering high quality projects using local skills. But we know from the FMB’s House Builders’ Survey in December 2024 that the planning system is the number one barrier preventing SME builders from building. We need to see more resources allocated to local authority planning departments, dedicated to helping SME builders navigate the challenges of planning system, and allowing them to deliver the homes we need.”

EAN Breaking News

Breaking News from the team at Estate Agent Networking. Have a new story to share with us? Then please get in contact today! When and where we can we will refer to third party websites with a 'live link back' where news was released first.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Property expert on how to bag the BEST mortgage deal in today’s market

Finding a good mortgage deal in today’s market demands more than just comparing rates. While the average 2-year and 5-year fixed mortgage rates have gone down this year, they’re still higher than rates pre-pandemic. This means those in their current homes will have to pay more than they once were each month, and new buyers…
Read More →
Breaking News

Halloween Named the UK’s Most Popular Moving Day of 2025

Halloween was the most popular day to move house in 2025, breaking the long-standing trend of summer being the busiest time for home moves. We analysed the data and spoke to industry experts to understand why the peak moving day has shifted and why it fell on an international holiday.  Compare My Move reviewed more than 170,000 house moves made in 2025 and…
Read More →
for sale sign london
Breaking News

Industry Response to Halifax House Price Index

Industry response to the Halifax House Price Index December 2025 The latest index shows that: – On a monthly basis, house prices fell by 0.6% between November and December of last year. Annually, house prices were up 0.3% versus this time last year, although this annual rate of growth had slowed from 0.7% the previous…
Read More →
Breaking News

Halifax House Price Index December 2025

House prices in December 2025 were 0.3% higher compared to the same month a year earlier. UK house prices dipped in December • House prices dipped by -0.6% in December, following a -0.1% fall in November • Average property price is now £297,755, the lowest since June • Annual growth slowed to +0.3%, down from…
Read More →
Breaking News

Homebuyer demand returns following Autumn Budget

New research from Property DriveBuy reveals that Bristol, Tyne & Wear, and South Yorkshire emerged as the UK’s most in-demand areas of the housing market following the Autumn Budget, with as many as 61% of homes listed for sale successfully securing a buyer in Q4 2025. Property Drivebuy analysed residential listings data across the nation…
Read More →
Breaking News

Economic uncertainty tops agents’ worries in 2026

“Make-or-break” 2026 looms for estate agents as costs, red tape and reform pile pressure on sector Agents warn of ‘survival year’ ahead as new Alto Agency Trends Report reveals deep fears over rising costs and regulation UK estate and letting agents are heading into 2026 fearing a make-or-break year, as soaring costs, economic uncertainty and…
Read More →