The number of new homes registered with the National House-Building Council (NHBC) in the UK during the first quarter of this year has reached 31,739 – the highest level for this period since 2008.
The figure represents a significant overall 22 percent increase on last year, when 25,998 new homes were registered in Q1 2012.
The rise has been fuelled by an increase in public sector registrations of 43 percent in Q1 this year compared to the same period last year. The main drive for this rise has been the Government’s £2.2bn Affordable Homes Programme which aims to deliver 170,000 new homes by April 2015.
The NHBC statistics also reveal an enormous 61 percent increase in new houses being registered in London in the first quarter of 2013 compared to Q1 last year. The landmark Battersea Power Station redevelopment helped boost the figures as more than 800 new properties were registered during the first phase of the project.
NHBC commercial director Richard Tamayo said: “New home registrations in the UK have reached a five-year high for Quarter 1, rising 22 percent on the comparative period, boosted by a very strong performance in the Greater London area. This rise in new homes being registered – particularly affordable homes – is very encouraging news for Britain’s housebuilding industry which has been through a very difficult time in recent years. These figures may be an indication that much-needed confidence is returning to the industry, although they should be viewed in the context of overall new homes volumes remaining significantly below historic levels.”
