New home registrations nears decade high, says NHBC

154,698 new homes were registered to be built in the 2017/18 financial year, according to new figures from NHBC.

Encouragingly, the NHBC findings show this to be the second highest number of registrations over the past decade – 2% short of the record 157,805 new homes registered in 2016/17 – with six of the UK’s 12 regions experiencing some form of growth.

The first three quarters of the 2017/18 financial year saw 116,451 private sector homes registered – down from 117,987 the year previous – while 38,247 affordable homes were reported in comparison to the 39,818 registered during 2016/17.

Of the six growth regions, the North West led the way with 18,272 registrations – a 21% increase on the year previous – followed by the East Midlands (14,314, +12%) and Wales (5,384, +11%).

It wasn’t all good news however. Registrations tapered off in the fourth quarter with 36,637 new homes recorded during the first three months of 2018 – a 14% decrease on the 42,405 registrations reported in that same period the year previous.

NHBC attribute this dip to the streak of exceptionally bad weather experienced at the top of the year which severely impacted house building nationwide. Anecdotally, there are reports that up to 30 days on-site were lost as a direct consequence of the arctic conditions.

Other contributing factors include the much publicised shortage of skilled labour, renewed anxiety over Brexit and short-term market fluctuations. On the whole the picture is positive however, with continued growth forecast for 2018/19 in both the private and affordable sectors.

“New home registration figures for the last financial year have reached the second highest level in a decade, despite a challenging start to 2018, with freezing weather conditions affecting building sites up and down the country,” summarized Steve Wood, Chief Executive of NHBC.

“Business confidence in both the private and affordable sectors remains high with clear routes to continued growth in 2018, and NHBC will continue to help support house builders to build the high quality new homes that people across the UK need.”

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here.

The post New home registrations nears decade high, says NHBC appeared first on UK Construction Online.