The number of new homes applied for in England remained strong at the start of 2026 despite continued pressure from high borrowing costs, construction inflation and wider viability challenges facing developers, according to the data from Planning Portal operator TerraQuest.
Figures in the latest edition of the Planning Application Index show Q1 2026 recorded 71,028 housing unit submissions across England, excluding London, making it the strongest opening quarter for new housing applications since Q1 2022. This follows a record-breaking end to 2025, which saw the highest annual total of new homes applied for this decade.
Affordable housing applications also continued to perform – at 4,225 units, Q1 2026 recorded the highest number of affordable homes applied for at the start of any year since the beginning of the decade, while applications for market homes reached their strongest opening quarter since 2022.
TerraQuest says the data suggests developer intent remains resilient, despite wider economic pressures facing the sector.
However, TerraQuest’s new home application figures also point to growing regional variation. While housing submissions remain resilient across much of England, London experienced a more difficult start to the year. At 9,346, housing unit submissions in the capital fell to their lowest level since Q2 2023 and were significantly down on the same quarter last year.
Beyond these regional variations, the more persistent challenge lies in what happens after applications are approved. In TerraQuest’s inaugural Planning Application Index in 2024, the company underlined that over a million homes with planning permission since 2015 had yet to be built. These delivery challenges have persisted and compounded in recent years, with housing starts remaining broadly flat year on year, while completion figures are at their lowest level since 2014.
The steady levels of new homes being applied for suggests the disconnect between applications and delivery can be increasingly linked to post-application planning delays as well as site viability pressures. Rising construction costs, inflationary pressures, infrastructure constraints and wider economic uncertainty continue to impact the ability of developments to progress beyond approval.