Figures released by the National House Building Council (NHBC) today show new home registrations have hit their highest level since 2007.
In the July – September 2014 period, new home registrations were up 8 per cent on the same period last year, with the private sector continuing to be the main driver of growth. These are the highest year-to-date figures, and the highest third-quarter figures, since 2007.
NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton says the statistics are encouraging.
“The sharp housing upturn we have seen over the last couple of years is a genuine broad-based recovery across the whole of the country, with pockets of strong growth in the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside and West Midlands. It is now increasingly apparent that housing growth is no longer London and South East-centric, with these regions beginning to show signs of cooling.
“However we must not lose sight of the fact that the UK still has a chronic shortage of new homes. We have seen over recent weeks that all the main political parties regard housing as an ongoing key issue, reinforcing the fact that the country urgently needs more high quality and affordable new homes.”
In total, 36,343 new homes were registered with NHBC between July and September this year, compared to 33,573 for the same period in 2013. There has been a 14 per cent increase for the private sector, with the public sector still under-performing when compared to last year.
However, NHBC anticipates the public sector will begin to grow again as the next phase of the government’s Affordable Housing Programme has recently been allocated.
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