The first new home figures for 2015, revealed by NHBC, show that registrations for the rolling quarter are up 13% on the same period 12 months ago.
The latest figures have been announced after NHBC last month reported a 9% increase in the overall volumes of homes registered in the UK from 135,344 in 2013 to 147,015 in 2014.
In January 11,390 new homes were registered, compared to 11,645 last January (down 2%), with the private sector showing a 5% increase (8,849 compared to 8,408 in January 2014) but the public sector was down 22% (2,541 compared to 3,237 last January).
Overall totals for the rolling quarter incorporating November 2014 - January 2015 show that 35,836 new homes were registered in the UK, compared to 31,852 for the corresponding quarter last year. The private sector increased 23% (27,881 compared to 22,612 for November 2013 - January 2014), with the public sector down 14% (7,955 compared to 9,240).
As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC's monthly registration statistics are a leading indicator of the health of the country's new homes market.
Commenting on the latest registration statistics, NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said: "Following on from our annual registration figures, the rolling quarter shows that the overall new home volumes are ahead of 12 months ago, with the private sector quite clearly the main driver of growth. Even though January was slightly down we must remember this is after the extremely strong figures for December.
"We anticipate an important couple of months in the run-up to the General Election with housing likely to be at the forefront of political debate in an effort to increase overall levels of new homes that the country urgently requires."
NHBC UK statistics for November 2014 - January 2015 show that during November 2014 - January 2015 the number of registrations was 35,836, a 13% increase on last year (31,852). Of these:
- Private sector registrations in November 2014 - January 2015 increased by 23% (27,881), compared with the same period last year (22,612).
- Public sector registrations in November 2014 - January 2015 decreased by 14% (7,955) when compared to the same period last year (9,240).
NHBC's role is to support the industry in maintaining and improving the build quality of new homes for homebuyers, whilst providing the benefit of its 10-year Buildmark warranty protection, when required.
NHBC does this through a wide range of activities, from standards setting through technical support to warranty and insurance.
NHBC is a non-profit distributing organisation with no shareholders. It invests any surplus into activities that improve new homes further, in particular through its research arm, the NHBC Foundation.
NHBC is the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK. NHBC's ten-year Buildmark warranty covers around 80 per cent of new homes built in the UK, having covered nearly eight million homes since it began and currently protecting around 1.6 million homes.