Moving beyond the planning system to meet housing demand

Amplifying members’ expertise

Agents’ local market knowledge is vital to ensuring that new homes are not just approved, but built in the right places, in the right numbers, and for the people who need them most.

Our latest position paper sets out why the UK struggles to meet housing demand and what needs to change to deliver homes where needed, bringing together evidence from across the sector and what our members see every day on the ground.

Position papers and consultation responses on key topics within the property industry are a key tool for making members’ voices heard and facilitating constructive dialogue with decision-makers who are shaping the property landscape.

Demand continues to outstrip supply

Housing demand is being driven by long-term demographic change, including population growth, smaller household sizes and people living longer. These pressures are felt most acutely in areas with strong local economies, where insufficient housing supply is limiting labour mobility and affordability. For agents, this translates into intense competition for available homes, upward pressure on prices and rents, and frustrated buyers and renters.

Why the system is failing to deliver enough homes

The problem is not a lack of need, but a system that is too slow and unpredictable. Planning delays, uncertainty for developers, and a shortage of skills in key parts of the construction and planning workforce are all constraining delivery.

Infrastructure is also vital. . If communities are to function well and win local support, new homes must be supported by transport, schools, and health services.

The role of the existing housing stock

Meeting demand is not only about building new homes. The UK must make better use of existing stock, including bringing empty homes back into use and supporting moves that free up under-occupied homes.

Propertymark campaigns for targeted incentives and practical support to help improve turnover without penalising homeowners.

How housing demand pressures differ across the UK

While the shortage of homes is a shared challenge, the causes and policy responses differ across the four UK nations. A one-size-fits-all solution will not work.

England

Housing policy has focused heavily on reforming the planning system to accelerate delivery. While planning delays remain a frustration for developers and agents alike, planning reform on its own will not deliver the homes England needs.

A significant number of homes already have planning permission but have not been built, demonstrating that barriers exist beyond planning consent. These include limited capacity in the construction sector, skills shortages, and a lack of incentives to encourage developers to build out sites quickly. The long-term decline in local authority housebuilding has also left England overly reliant on private developers, who have never delivered homes at the scale now being targeted.

Scotland

The Scottish Government has formally declared a housing emergency and published a Housing Emergency Delivery Plan that places planning reform at its core. Propertymark recognises the ambition behind this approach but cautions that, as in England, unlocking supply will require more than faster planning decisions.

There is a need for wider intervention, including addressing construction capacity, supporting smaller developers, and ensuring that planning decisions align with real demand for different tenures and property types. Without this, Scotland risks approving homes that do not fully meet local needs or cannot be delivered at pace.

Wales

Planning reform has been in progress for more than a decade, including the introduction of ‘Positive Planning’ to improve certainty and encourage collaboration between local authorities. Despite these efforts, many of the challenges identified over ten years ago remain unresolved.

Delivery of affordable housing remains inconsistent across Wales, with local approaches varying significantly. Greater consistency, stronger strategic oversight and closer alignment between planning policy and housing demand are needed if Wales is to close the gap between ambition and delivery.

Northern Ireland

While improvements to planning are included in the Housing Supply Strategy, they form just one part of a wider framework for increasing supply, recognising that planning is not the sole constraint on housing delivery.

Northern Ireland’s approach focuses more explicitly on prioritising strategically important developments and addressing structural barriers across the housing system.

Supporting agents to get involved

By setting out clear, evidence-based recommendations, this position paper is designed to support our engagement with governments across the UK and strengthen the case for practical reform.

Members are encouraged to read the full paper and use it in discussions with local decision-makers to help shape policies that genuinely increase housing supply and improve affordability.