One-bedroom flats are the most unloved homes in Britain right now, with 36% of one-bedroom apartments selling for less than the owner paid for them. They are more than five times more likely to sell at a loss than a house, and there are 20% more one-bed flats for sale now than five years ago and 42% more than ten years ago. These units remain listed for sale for an average of 70 days, a week longer than five years ago and 24 days longer than a decade ago.
Losses extend across the broader property market, with 25% of two-plus bedroom flats selling at a loss, while 7% of houses are selling at a loss. The build-to-rent sector is also struggling, with the number of build-to-rent homes under construction falling for the ninth consecutive quarter. Data indicates that 59,874 build-to-rent homes were being built in Q1 last year, falling 17% year-on-year by Q1 2026 to 49,984.
5 million homes by the next general election. London is expected to build 88,000 new homes every year to meet the city's needs, but only 4,550 homes per year will be built in London in 2027 and 2028. The average wait for planning consent for a build-to-rent home in London has lengthened from 8 to 15 months on average in the last six years.
Major developer Barratt Redrow is trimming its purchases of new land because geopolitical uncertainty has created a less certain backdrop. The company will acquire between 7,000 and 9,000 plots, down from 10,000-12,000 previously expected. Overall housing completions are falling short of targets, with the outcome for new houses in 2024-25 at 208,600, down 6% on the previous year and below the required annual average of 300,000.
SME house builders have seen average sales drop by 41% between 2021 and 2025. Builders delivering 500-1,000 homes per year have seen average sales per outlet fall from 33 homes per year in 2021 to 19 last year. SME house builders delivered 40% of the UK's new homes in 1988, but the rate of house completion has dropped by 38% among builders outside the UK's 50 biggest.
SME builders express widespread pessimism and plan cutbacks, with 70% of SME building firms saying current market conditions are reducing their appetite for starting new sites. A quarter of SME building firms expect to cut back on land purchasing, and only 28% of SMEs have a positive outlook of the UK's housing market. London is the region where SMEs are the most pessimistic, with 57% bracing for worsening conditions.
Regulatory pressure from a landfill tax increase adds to builder challenges, with the landfill tax set to increase by 500% over the Parliament.