Data from the Office for National Statistics reveals how many homes are being started and completed each year in the UK’s local authority area.
In Cumberland, 650 homes started construction in the 2025/26 financial year and while this was an increase of 51.6 per cent on the 430 recorded in 2024/25, it is still 420 homes less than the 1,070 started in 2022/23.
The 2022/23 financial year saw the largest number of homes started in Cumberland in at least 17 years, according to the ONS data.
Cumberland saw its largest number of completions in the 2019/2020 financial year, according to ONS, at 1,070.
At 680, the 2025/26 financial year has seen a 16 per cent reduction in homes completed, compared to the previous year.
The figure is also a reduction of 390 homes on the number that completed construction in 2019/20.
In Westmorland & Furness, the number of completed homes dropped by 140 in 2025/26, from 500 to 360.
The highest number of homes completed in Westmorland & Furness in at least 17 years was recorded in 2022/23 at 740.
A year earlier, Westmorland & Furness recorded its highest number of housebuilding starts in at least 17 years at 790.
Rigid planning laws around nutrient neutrality as slowed the housing growth in the north and east of Cumbria recently, however, a decision by Natural England in February was considered a breakthrough.
Natural England has redrawn its nutrient neutrality boundary around the River Eden, made possible by upgrades to wastewater treatment works in the area.
Local authorities, forming the Cumbria Nutrient Neutrality Partnership, expect that the reduced boundary will mean “some major urban areas, including Carlisle, are no longer subject to all the Nutrient Neutrality requirements.”
A Cumberland Council spokesperson told Newsquest Cumbria in September 2025 that nutrient neutrality requirements have impacted on starts and completions in the Carlisle area “where we have applications for over 3,000 homes locked at the application stage.”
Cumberland Council is leading on the St Cuthbert’s Garden Village project, which will see about 10,000 homes, employment opportunities, green infrastructure and community facilities developed south of Carlisle.
