Housebuilder start-ups at their lowest level since help to buy ended in 2022

• Across the first seven months of 2026, 6,815 new housebuilders were set up, down from a peak of 10,387 in 2022, a figure fuelled by the tail end of both low interest rates and the Help to Buy scheme in England (chart 1).
• Over the same period, the number of housebuilding companies falling into administration has risen by 21% since 2022 (chart 2).
• The average life expectancy of a housebuilding company fell from 7.1 years in 2020 to 6.8 years so far in 2026.
• There are a total of 71,300 housebuilders in business across the UK, down from a peak of just over 72,700 in May 2024.

Connells Group analysis of Companies House data shows that the number of housebuilding companies being set up in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since its 2022 peak.

Across the first seven months of 2026, 6,815 new housebuilder companies were set up, down from 10,387 over the same period in 2022 (chart 1). This marked a 3.5% year-on-year decline and a 34% fall since 2022.

The decline has followed the ending of the Help to Buy programme in England (31 October 2022). Introduced in April 2013, the scheme gave just under 400,000 mostly first-time buyers access to government-backed equity loans on new homes worth between 20%-40% of a property’s value. Since the scheme closed to new applicants in 2022, the number of new housebuilders being established has fallen in every year since.

Meanwhile, the number of housebuilding companies being dissolved has risen by 21% since 2022, and the average life expectancy of a housebuilding company has fallen from 7.1 years in 2020 to 6.3 years in 2023. It has since edged back up to 6.8 years, suggesting that some of the newer and more vulnerable businesses have already exited the market, leaving a smaller pool of more established housebuilders behind. These larger housebuilders have generally been more resilient. They’ve been helped by deeper pockets which have been necessary as borrowing costs have risen and homes have taken longer to sell.

At the end of July 2026, there were a total of 71,300 housebuilders in business across the United Kingdom, down from a peak of just over 72,700 in May 2024.

Aneisha Beveridge, Research Director at Connells Group, said:

“High interest rates, rising construction costs and weaker buyer confidence have increasingly deterred many new developers from entering the market. For a housebuilder brave enough to set up shop today, the operating environment remains far from easy. Until market conditions improve sufficiently, the number of housebuilders is likely to continue shrinking. This is compounded by an ageing workforce, which means many trade skills are being lost for good.

“Help to Buy’s epitaph is still being written, but it undoubtedly incentivised both existing housebuilders to build more homes, as well as enticing new developers into the market. While larger, established housebuilders have been better placed to absorb tougher conditions, newer players with less financial flexibility can’t afford to wait long for sales to roll in and have therefore struggled to make the numbers work.”