New home registrations up 9% on last year

New figures released today by the NHBC show that new home registrations dropped by 2% in the third quarter in comparison to the same period in 2014.

However, the overall year to-to-date statistics reveal that the number of new homes registered with NHBC has increased 9% from last year’s figures.

Including September, the number of new homes registered this year is 117,525 in comparison to 108,118 in 2014.

In the third quarter, 36,219 new homes were registered compared with 36,955 a year ago. The private sector is static at -1% (28,527; 28,906 in 2014), with the public sector down by 4% (7,692; 8,049 in 2014).

The fall in public sector registrations has been attributed by analysts to numerous housing associations sitting on developments due to welfare reforms and the cap on rental increases.

According to the figures, London saw a 25% increase in the number of new homes registered in the third quarter – 7,289 compared with 5,812 in the third quarter of 2014.

Nationally, there was positive news when comparing the statistics to last year: Northern Ireland saw a rise of 39%, Scotland 8% and Wales 4% all enjoyed a positive quarter when compared to the same period last year.

Several regions in England, however, reported a fall in the number of registrations for the quarter but year-to-date figures indicate reveal growth in ten out twelve regions in the UK.

NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton commented: “Despite the marginal drop in housing registrations this quarter, 2015 is still promising to be a strong year for new housing growth in the UK. Our year-to-date figures show that registrations in both the private and public sector are ahead of last year.

“The industry remains upbeat and is working hard to build the number of homes our country so desperately needs, despite the pressures associated with rapid growth.”

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