Unlocking Land for Housing: What’s Changing and Why It Matters for Rural Communities

A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) is shining a light on a big issue at the heart of the housing crisis: it’s not just about building homes - it’s about having the right land ready to build on.

What does “unlocking land” actually mean?

Across England, there’s land that could be used for housing; but often isn’t. That’s because it can be complicated, costly, or simply not attractive enough for developers.

Some common barriers include:

• Land needing expensive clean-up (for example, brownfield sites)
• Lack of roads, utilities or infrastructure
• Land split between multiple owners
• Projects that aren’t financially viable without support

To tackle this, the Government has been investing in programmes designed to “unlock” this land, making it suitable and viable for new homes.

What has the NAO found?

Since 2016, around £10.5 billion has been allocated to help unlock land for housing, with the aim of creating space for over 700,000 homes.

But here’s the challenge:

• Only around 33,000 homes have actually been built so far
• That’s just about 5% of the original target

While more homes are expected in the future, the NAO says progress has been slow - and, crucially, not always well tracked. In some cases, the Government didn’t even plan to monitor how many homes were eventually built on unlocked land.

What’s happening next?

A new National Housing Delivery Fund is set to launch from April 2026. This will bring together funding, loans and investment (via a new housing bank) into one place, with the aim of speeding things up and delivering more homes.

But the NAO is clear: for this to work the Government needs:

• Clear priorities
• Better tracking of results
• Stronger oversight to ensure value for money

Why this matters for rural areas

In rural communities, the challenge of finding suitable land is often even greater.

Sites tend to be smaller, infrastructure can be limited, and developments need to be carefully designed to fit the character of villages. All of this can make projects harder to get off the ground, especially without the right support.

And this is exactly where our Rural Housing Enabler plays a vital role.

How our Rural Housing Enabler helps “unlock” rural housing

While national programmes focus on large-scale funding and infrastructure, Rural Housing Enablers work at the local level to make development possible in a different way.

They:

• Work with parish councils and residents to identify local housing need
• Bring together landowners, housing associations and planners
• Help identify small sites that could be developed sensitively
• Support projects through the planning and funding process
• Build trust within communities, something that’s essential in rural areas

In many ways, they are doing on a local scale exactly what national programmes are trying to achieve: unlocking land so the right homes can be built in the right places. Read more about the great work that our Housing Enabler, Ollie, does here.

The bigger picture

The NAO report reinforces something we see every day in rural Norfolk: housing delivery isn’t just about numbers, it’s about overcoming barriers.

Whether that’s a lack of infrastructure, complicated land ownership, or community concerns, these challenges need both national investment and local expertise to solve.

Because when we unlock the right land, and deliver the right homes, we don’t just build houses. We support thriving, sustainable rural communities for the future.