And overall, housing starts are now 113% higher than in 2009 and the end of the unsustainable housing boom, and at its
highest level since 2007.
There were 11% more new homes started in the first quarter of the year compared with the last quarter of 2013 and new
home starts are a third higher than a year ago.
Over 27,000 people have been helped through the Help to Buy equity loan, NewBuy and Mortgage Guarantee schemes.
‘In 2010 we inherited a situation where builders couldn’t build, buyers couldn’t buy and lenders wouldn’t lend. Today’s
figures show we’re turning this around, with Help to Buy not only helping aspiring home owners but also leading to a
resurgence in house building,’ said Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
According to Housing Minister Kris Hopkins it has taken a massive government effort to get Britain building again.
‘Today’s figures show it’s working, in no small part thanks to the measures we’ve taken to help aspiring home owners onto
the property ladder. Since the launch of Help to Buy, private house building is up 34%. And thanks to the reinvigorated
Right to Buy even more tenants are able to become home owners, while council house building has hit a 23 year high,’ he
added.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at the Home Builders Federation, said that the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme has
supported demand for new build homes. ‘House builders responded immediately, and we have now seen a big increase in the
number of homes being built. This is providing desperately needed homes and also creating jobs on sites across the
country and in the supply chain,’ he pointed out.
‘Whilst the number of Equity Loan scheme sales is very small in terms of the overall housing market, it is driving up new
housing supply. The scheme’s extension provides certainty about longer-term demand for new homes. This is allowing the
industry to plan ahead, rebuild capacity lost in the downturn and deliver the homes the country needs,’ he added.
Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), said that house building is
finally moving in the right direction but whether it is doing so fast enough and with enough urgency remains to be seen.
'We are battling against a deep deficit of new homes across the UK and a 31% annual rise in new starts still leaves us
staring into the abyss of a severe supply problem as population pressures grow. The lack of housing supply remains the
overriding issue in the property market and its impact is changing the shape of housing tenure across the nation,' he
explained.
He pointed out that the IMLA’s latest report shows the hefty growth of the private rented sector in recent years has been
needed to cater for changes in society, but the lack of new homes coming onto the market has put the squeeze on first
time buyers and threatens to consign mass home ownership to the history books.
'Housing is a leading contender to be the defining political theme of the next 12 months and growing pressure for a
relaxation of planning restrictions to boost housing starts looks inevitable. Without action, current trends will see
more than half of UK households renting in the private or social rental sectors by 2032. This is no time for short term
measures to patch up home ownership: what’s needed urgently is a fully formed cross party strategy to adequately serve
owner occupiers, tenants and landlords into the long term,' he added.
