House building activity in the UK this year is set to top levels seen in 2014, according to new figures released by NHBC.
The new home registrations statistics reveal an increase of 11% for the rolling quarter June - August, compared to the same period last year. A total of 40,101 new homes were registered in the UK during this period, up on the 36,149 new homes registered in the previous year.
The private sector increased by 12% during this period (30,210 in 2015; 27,072 last year), with the public sector increasing by 9% from last year (9,891 in 2015; 9,077 last year).
However, registrations for August were down marginally by 6% (10,362 compared to 11,037 last year) - the first time since January that figures fell below last year's respective monthly totals. For the month, the private sector was marginally down by 1% (8,401 in 2015, 8,476 August 2014), with the public sector down 23% (1,961 versus 2,561 last August); this decrease follows six consecutive months of growth when compared to last year for the public sector.
As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC's registration statistics help to provide new and accurate data on the country¿s new homes market.
Commenting on the latest registration statistics, NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said: "Despite a slight decrease for August, overall registration levels for the rolling quarter show the same steady growth we've seen throughout 2015.
"However, we are now seeing registration volumes fall in the public and affordable sector after a good start to the year. This may be due to many housing associations holding back on developments in light of welfare reforms and the cap on rental increases. We will closely monitor this over the coming months, along with the private sector, as the house building industry strives to build more new, quality homes that the UK needs."
NHBC UK statistics for June - August 2015 show that during June - August 2015, the number of registrations was 40,101, an 11% increase on last year (36,149). Of these:
- Private sector registrations in June - August 2015 increased by 12% (30,210), compared with the same period last year (27,072).
- Public sector registrations in June - August 2015 increased by 9% (9,891) when compared to the same period last year (9,077).
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.
