Raising standards to protect homeowners
New Home Starts Fall by Almost Half 05/09/08
Following the Government's announcement of a raft of rescue measures to boost the housing market, NHBC's new house-building statistics show that the number of applications to start new homes fell by almost half year-on-year in the three-months from May to July.
NHBC statistics show that there were 28,086 applications to start new homes in the UK in the three months from May to July 2008 - a 47 per cent decrease on the same period a year ago (52,907).
Imtiaz Farookhi, NHBC Chief Executive, says: "With poor demand continuing to affect building activity severely on sites, we welcome the Government's package of measures to re-energise the housing market, including interest free loans for first-time buyers, which should go some way to restore consumer confidence.
"However, the success of these measures will be short-lived unless urgent action is taken to increase mortgage lending by improving liquidity in the mortgage market, so that finance deals will be more readily available for buyers. We look forward to the results of Sir James Crosby's review of the mortgage finance markets in the next few weeks and urge that measures to improve conditions in this area are implemented at the earliest opportunity."
NHBC statistics show that of the 28,086 applications received to start new homes during May to July 2008, 17,835 related to private sector activity (i.e. excluding housing associations), showing a 58 per cent decrease on the same three month period in 2007 (42,123).
Housing association starts totalled 10,251 for the three months to the end of July - a decrease of five per cent on the same period a year ago (10,784).
Although less severe than the decline in applications to start new homes, NHBC statistics show that new build completions also fell in the three months to the end of July this year. A total of 42,875 new homes was completed in the three month period - 15 per cent lower than the same period last year, when 50,228 new homes were completed.
Additional figures for the three months from May to July 2008 show that the average number of daily sales of new homes in the UK was 477, a decrease of 21 per cent on the same period a year ago (607).
Ends
FOR A BREAKDOWN OF NEW HOMES REGISTERED BY REGION / COUNTRY PLEASE E-MAIL mblamey@nhbc.co.uk
NHBC is the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK. It was established more than 70 years ago as a non-profit distributing company. NHBC's primary purpose is to help raise standards to protect homeowners. NHBC's ten-year 'Buildmark' warranty covers more than 80% of new homes built in the UK and currently protects more than 1.7 million homes.