A decline in conversion projects could prevent the Government from hitting its housing delivery targets according to Octane Capital.

Octane Capital analysed official Government figures on net housing supply and found that across the last five years (2019/20 to 2023/24), a total of 114,961 homes were delivered through change of use. This marks a 22% decline compared with the previous five-year period (2014/15 to 2018/19), when 147,458 homes were created. 

Jonathan Samuels, CEO of Octane Capital, said: “The Government has set itself some very ambitious housing targets, but the reality is that these will never be achieved through new-build delivery alone.

“Change of use is one of the most effective ways of bridging the supply gap, yet delivery has been in decline. A lack of funding, stricter planning, and rising costs are all standing in the way.”

The North East has been the region which has seen the greatest fall at 52.6%, London has also seen a large decline, with completions down by 49.7%. The East Midlands (-26.3%) and East of England (-23.5%) have also seen substantial reductions. Even in the West Midlands, where change of use was more resilient, output still slipped slightly (-1.3%).