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Building 1.5 million homes: the plan, the roadblocks, and how the right software can get us there

BBC’s Panorama recently shone a spotlight on the Labour governments big housing target to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years. This is a very welcome attempt to tackle long-running housing shortages, but a challenging prospect for the UK construction industry. However, there are many obstacles hindering firms including planning bottlenecks, skills and materials shortages, funding/viability gaps, and local capacity all threaten delivery. 

In this blog post we discuss the core challenges the construction industry faces at scale, and (concretely) how modern software and digital processes can remove friction so build-out becomes much more realistic.

The big, practical obstacles

Planning and regulation friction 

Slow, inconsistent approvals and fragmented data between councils, developers and highways/infrastructure teams. 

Skills shortages and training gaps 

Large numbers of skilled European workers left the UK during Brexit and Covid and an ageing workforce has left significant labour gaps. The government are investing in training but it takes time and won’t magically appear without capacity planning.

Supply-chain and material volatility 

Lead times, Brexit/geo disruptions, and price swings make scheduling and costing fragile.

Land assembly and viability 

Sites need enabling infrastructure (utilities, roads) and finance; many proposed sites fail viability tests. 

Local authority capacity 

Councils often lack the staffing, data and systems to co-ordinate large programs at pace. 

Political and market scepticism 

Analysts and industry bodies warn targets may be optimistic without major policy and delivery changes. 

These obstacles aren’t intractable — many are information, coordination and productivity problems where software directly helps.

How software solves these problems (practical, implementable approaches)

Software, such as Pegasus CIS 5, can be one of the most valuable assets for construction firms and can help overcome challenges and give firms the control and visibility needed to fulfil even the most ambitious of targets. But how, we hear you ask?

• Ensuring that contract costing is transparent: tracking committed costs (purchase orders, subcontractor orders) and matching those with actual costs. 
• Better cost control: by seeing committed costs early (purchase orders, subcontractor orders) and comparing actuals vs budget, firms can avoid cost overruns.
• Takes the hard work out of dealing with subcontractor compliance and HMRC construction industry scheme (CIS) obligations. Meet regulatory obligations and avoid penalties.
• Integrating plant hire and internal/external assets on contracts: helps firms that hire plant/equipment internally or externally track usage, costs, transfers between jobs. 
• Simplifying reporting, dashboards and document management: real-time dashboards and reports mean managers aren’t relying on outdated spreadsheets but live data to act upon.
• Reducing administrative burden & supporting “paperless” processes: document management, integration, elimination of paper and manual processes reduces time, errors and lost paperwork. 

What success looks like (metrics to track)

• Reduction in average planning decision time (days)
• Percent of dwellings using MMC / off-site manufacture
• Cost variance per unit at completion vs budget
• Number of skilled operatives trained and deployed to building sites
• Supply chain lead-time volatility index
• Time to practical completion (weeks) per typical terrace/flat block

Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)

• Buying software that doesn’t integrate — standalone software creates silos and poor communication between departments. For ultimate efficiency, a joined up and integrated approach is essential. 
• Rolling tech without process change — training, governance and new workflows are as important as software.
• Treating software as IT project, not a delivery enabler — tie tool procurement to delivery KPIs and commercial incentives.
• Ignoring smaller firms and SMEs — provide portals and low-code/no-code supplier onboarding so smaller contractors can participate.

Final thoughts — policy + software = delivery, if done together

Ambitious targets (like the 1.5 million figure that’s been set out) create political impetus and funding commitments, but they only become homes if industry can scale reliably and councils can process, enable and monitor delivery. Software is not a silver bullet — it must be paired with training, finance, policy clarity and supply-side investment — but it is one of the highest-leverage tools available: it reduces uncertainty, speeds decisions, and multiplies labour productivity. The government’s investments in training and planning reform are the right complements; now the industry must standardise, integrate and digitise to turn targets into finished homes. 

Pegasus CIS 5 spotlight

Pegasus CIS 5 is a comprehensive contract-management software tailored for the construction/contracting sector that brings together costing, purchasing, sales/valuations, subcontractor compliance, plant hire, stock, labour and reporting into one system. It is designed to give firms the visibility, control, and agility they need to manage projects profitably, meet regulatory obligations, and reduce the admin burden of fragmented data systems.

For more information about Pegasus CIS 5, or to see it in action, please contact us today to discuss your requirements.

Posted On: October 23, 2025