All-sector new housebuilding

17,268 new homes were built (completed), and 14,955 homes were started in 2025-26, with completions down 10% (-1,914 homes) and starts down 4% (-693 homes) from 2024-25. These figures include all social and private sector led activity.
Chart 1: All-sector new housebuilding starts and completions, Scotland, 1996-97 to 2025-26

Chart 1 shows the annual number of all-sector starts and completions from 1996-97 to 2025-26. Aside from 2020-21 where Covid-19 impacted housebuilding, all-sector completions were the lowest since 2016-17. Starts were the lowest since 2012-13, and are lower than the level of starts (by 23%) seen when Covid-19 impacted housebuilding in 2020-21.

Map A shows that in 2025-26; the highest new build rates were in Na h-Eileanan Siar, Midlothian, West Lothian and East Lothian which had rates of more than 60 homes completed per 10,000 population.

The lowest rates were observed in Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Shetland, East Renfrewshire, Argyll & Bute and Scottish Borders which had rates of 20 homes or fewer per 10,000 population.

Note that all-sector completion rates calculations contain some estimated figures for East Dunbartonshire, South Ayrshire, and Stirling. Further details are in the Data and Methodology section.

Map A: New housebuilding – all-sector completions: rates per 10,000 population in 2025-26

The time series of completions per 10,000 population by local authority and at Scotland level is now available in one place, making it easier for users to assess building in relation to the differing populations over time. Over the last ten years, when looking at local authority data, East Lothian and Midlothian have consistently been in the highest ten local authorities each year for all-sector completions.

The latest quarterly data and comparison of quarters within 2024-25 and 2025-26 are shown in the ‘Quarterly Comparisons’ section. Timeseries data along with local authority breakdowns are contained in the supporting Excel tables.