Protracted building timelines are preventing the capital’s housebuilders from delivering the level of new-build housing stock required to meet demand, with new homes currently accounting for just 7.5% of all properties listed for sale across London in August 2025, according to Benham and Reeves.

It now takes an average of 25.7 months for a new project to progress from planning application to a spade in the ground, this is two months longer than the previous year and the longest timeline seen in more than a decade.

Marc von Grundherr, Director of Benham and Reeves, said: “London’s housebuilders are more than willing to deliver the homes this city so desperately needs, but they continue to face obstacle after obstacle. From the red tape of planning delays to the ballooning cost of labour and materials, as well as higher borrowing costs and subdued buyer appetite, the challenges are substantial.

“The end result is that new homes account for less than 8% of total listings, with some boroughs seeing barely 2% to 3% of their available stock built within the last few years. This is nowhere near the level of delivery required in a city of London’s size and demand.

“As market confidence improves and more developers are encouraged to bring schemes forward, we should begin to see a healthier pace of delivery and a growing share of new-build homes hitting the market.”

Even once permission is granted, it currently takes an average of 16.3 months before work begins on site, this is a 3.9-month increase in just a year and represents the longest timeframe seen across the last ten years.