UK Chancellor Healey Faces £1.6bn Budget Hit as Housebuilding Targets Fall Short

UK Chancellor John Healey risks a budget shortfall of at least £1.6bn as weak home construction figures undermine economic gains forecast from Labour's planning reforms, economists warned. Planning consents have slumped since the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projected in March 2025 that reforms would deliver 170,000 additional homes by 2029-30, adding 0.2pc to GDP, or £6.8bn in 2025 prices. Analysis by Britain Remade suggests the UK will miss the OBR's new-homes forecast by more than 400,000 units, a 36pc shortfall. Capital Economics' Ashley Webb said a downgrade of this magnitude would reduce the Chancellor's fiscal headroom by £1.6bn through lower tax receipts. Healey has already seen his £24bn buffer halved by rising borrowing costs and inflation. The Home Builders Federation has urged the Treasury to introduce a new 20pc Help to Buy equity loan scheme for first-time buyers, alongside scrapping a building-safety levy and restoring stamp duty thresholds to pre-April 2025 levels.