Private sector led new housebuilding

The private sector is the biggest contributor to overall house building, accounting for just over three quarters (76%) of all homes completed in the year to the end of September 2024. Some of the homes the private sector builds will be built for social rent and subsequently reported in the affordable housing supply programme figures.

In the year to the end of September 2024, there were 15,056 private sector led house building completions and 11,697 starts, as Chart 2 indicates. Private sector led new build completions have decreased by 4% (-673 homes), whilst starts have decreased by 14% (- 1,959 homes) in the year to the end of September 2024 compared with the previous year.

 Chart 2: Private sector new housebuilding starts and completions, 2004 to 2024 (year to end September).

Chart 2 shows the annual number of private sector led house building starts and completions from 2008 to 2024 (ending in September). Excluding 2020 where Covid-19 impacted housebuilding, new build completions were the lowest since the year to end of September 2018. Starts were at the lowest point since the year to end of September 2013.

Map B illustrates that Midlothian and East Lothian are local authorities with the highest private sector led completion rates in the year to the end of September 2024 (rate of over 54 homes built per 10,000 population).

The lowest rates are North Ayrshire, Angus, South Ayrshire, Stirling, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, West Dunbartonshire, Argyll and Bute, Scottish Borders and Inverclyde with rates of 18 or fewer homes built per 10,000 population.

Map B: New build housing – private sector completions: rates per 10,000 population, in the year to the end of September 2024.

The latest quarterly data and comparison to the corresponding quarter in the previous year are shown in the ‘Quarterly Comparisons’ section. Timeseries data along with local authority breakdowns are contained in the supporting Excel tables.