A new HBF report, called The Viability Crunch, has calculated this to be the cumulative impact of policy, taxation and regulatory pressures on construction costs.

This has impacted housing delivery with the HBF finding just 208,000 new homes were completed in 2024/25. This is down 16% from the peak in 2020.

This includes £2,000 in landfill tax, £2,320 from the forthcoming Building Safety Levy and £985 from inflationary increases on existing charges such as Section 106 agreements.

Up to £23,000 has been added through regulatory costs with £7,770 from building regulations, £5,700 from meeting BNG requirements and £10,200 linked to the Future Homes Standard.

Inflation on the prices of material and labour has created £37,000 in additional costs.

All in all, the average value of a new home has increased by over 20% to £365,000.

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The HBF is using this data to urge the government to implement a moratorium on new policy costs, taxes and levies affecting housing delivery.

This would include the cancellation of the Building Safety Levy scheduled for October 2026 and suspending further increases to Landfill Tax which is set to rise each year until 2030.

“If the government wants the private sector to deliver, it must create the right conditions for it to do so,” said Neil Jefferson, CEO at the HBF.

“Without urgent action to review and reduce the overall cost burden, the delivery of both private and affordable homes will remain at risk, and people will continue to miss out on the homes they need.

“Increased taxes and policy costs, alongside suppressed demand due to a lack of affordable mortgage lending and no government support for buyers, are preventing builders from increasing housing supply and putting the government’s housing ambitions increasingly out of reach.”