Fresh research from the Home Builders Federation claims the mounting burden is choking off housing delivery just as ministers ramp up pressure on the industry to build faster.

The trade body said annual housing completions have already slumped 16% from their 2020 peak to just 208,000 homes in 2024/25 as viability collapses on sites across the country.

Its new report, The Viability Crunch, lays bare how Whitehall taxes, regulatory demands and rampant inflation have hammered schemes from every angle.

Builders say more than £37,000 per home has been swallowed by soaring labour and material prices alone after years of supply chain shocks triggered by Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

Another £23,000 has been loaded on through new regulations covering Biodiversity Net Gain, building rules and the incoming Future Homes Standard.

Taxes and levies add more than £7,000 per plot, including the controversial new Building Safety Levy due to land in October next year.

Potential site-specific costs such as nutrient neutrality mitigation pile on a further £7,000 hit.

The HBF warned the combined impact now equates to more than 20% of the average value of a new home in England.

Developers said the old assumption that landowners would simply absorb rising costs through lower land values had finally “hit the buffers”.

Instead, firms are increasingly renegotiating affordable housing quotas and Section 106 deals just to keep schemes alive.

London’s flat market has been hit particularly hard, with extra building safety rules and regulator processes adding another £22,000 per flat on top of wider cost hikes.

The HBF also fired a broadside at the forthcoming Building Safety Levy, which aims to raise £3.4bn despite the sector already contributing £7bn towards remediation and safety fixes.

Builders warned the levy will hammer SME firms that have never built homes projects taller than a typical family home.

The federation said looming landfill tax hikes and the cost of rolling out heat pumps and mandatory solar panels under the Future Homes Standard risk tipping even more projects over the edge.

It also warned fresh instability linked to conflict in Iran could spark another wave of inflation and site delays.

Neil Jefferson, chief executive at the Home Builders Federation, said: “Reforming the planning system and reintroducing housing targets for local authorities was a vital first step in boosting supply but doing so while layering on more taxes, levies and policy costs is akin to having one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake.”

He added: “Without urgent action to review and reduce the overall cost burden, the delivery of both private and affordable homes will remain at risk.”