The number of new homes being registered across the UK remains slightly ahead of last year, new figures show.
The latest statistics from the National House Building Council show 38,099 new homes were registered for the rolling quarter May – July, compared to 37,738 for the same period last year – an increase of 1 per cent.
The council’s chief executive Mike Quinton comments: “Our latest statistics continue the trend seen during the year to date, with monthly volumes remaining steady and consolidating on last year’s overall levels.
“As we have stressed in the past, this recovery has been from a historically low base, so the industry must continue to work hard to meet the demand for more new, quality homes.”
The private sector continues to drive overall growth with numbers up nearly 7 per cent for the rolling quarter compared to last year (28,861 this year; 27,028 last year) .
The public sector is still down on 2013 levels by 14 per cent (9,238 this year; 10,710 last year).
Figures for July indicate a slight drop when compared to the same month last year although it is the second highest monthly total so far this year.