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New home registrations up 7% year on year in UK

The figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) show that 75% more new homes were registered in 2015 than at the time of the housing crash in 2009 and there were 156,140 registration compared to 146,359 in 2014.

Private sector registrations increased by 7% to 118,611 in 2015 compared to 110,674 in 2014 while public sector registration increased by 5% to 37,529 from 35,685 in 2014.

Continuing the trend from 2014, the number of detached homes registered reached 42,173, the highest for over a decade. Additionally, the number of semi-detached homes registered in 2015 at 35,423 was the highest in more than 20 years.

NHBC's latest data also revealed that the majority of UK regions experienced notable growth on 2014 levels, with the Eastern region up 23%, the North West up 16% and Scotland up by 15%.

In the East Midlands growth was 12%, the South West up 9% and West Midlands also up 9%. While Northern Ireland saw the biggest increase at 30%, the NHBC pointed out that this was from a relatively low base.

London is still leading the way in the number of new home registrations. Although the 2015 figure of 25,994 registrations is down 9% on the record 2014 total of 28,518, although 2015 saw the third highest number of registrations on record. Yorkshire and the Humber was down 13% on 2014 and Wales down 2% on 2014.

As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC's registration statistics are the lead indicator of the health of the country's new homes market.

‘2015 was a year for continued housing growth in the UK. Both the public and private sectors have performed well and we have seen encouraging levels of house building across most regions of the country,’ said NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton.

‘The detached home continues its resurgence, with our figures showing that house builders are building the highest number of detached properties for over a decade, with semi-detached homes also at their highest level in more than 20 years,’ he pointed out.

‘There is still a way to go before we are building the levels of new homes that were seen before the economic downturn, but 2015 represents consolidation on the growth seen over the last three years,’ he added.

However, it would seem that this is not translating into work for smaller builders. According to the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) workloads for small builders across the country took a downward turn towards the end of 2015.

‘The building industry remains confident of continued growth but the slowdown we saw in the last quarter is a cause for concern,’ said Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB,, who added that despite the growth in registrations both current and expected construction workloads are down in every region.

‘Most concerning is that the last three months of 2015 represent the first quarter in nearly three years in which private sector SME house building showed a negative balance. Even if this is a temporary blip, it comes at a time when merely manging to tread water would be inadequate in tackling the housing crisis,’ he explained.

‘We need firms of all sizes firing on all cylinders if we’re going to address the chronic under supply of housing but, unfortunately, a complex set of problems continue to constrain smaller developers. A concerted effort to tackle ongoing issues around access to finance, availability of suitable small sites and shortages of skilled labour is vital,’ he said.

‘We still expect to see growth in our sector continue throughout 2016 and we are optimistic that businesses can bounce back from what appears to have been a disappointing end to the year. However, the coming 12 months still hold in store considerable headwinds, not least the fears over the wider economy slowing down. If 2016 starts in anything less than a positive fashion, we could see growing fears that the hard earned gains made by the construction industry over the past two or three years are indeed under threat,’ he added.

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