Raising standards to protect homeowners
Rise in new home registrations indicate improvement in Scottish Housing Market
There has been further improvement in the Scottish housing market according to NHBC, as new homes registrations show a rolling quarter on quarter rise compared with last year.
While new home registrations for the three month period June to August 2009 were marginally lower than the last rolling quarter, the drop in applications compared to the same period last year is becoming less pronounced. With 1,576 applications received during the three months to the end of August 2009, registrations were 20 per cent lower than the same period of 2008 (1,966), compared to 34 per cent lower last rolling quarter of May to July 2009 (1,677).
Although some regional fluctuations have depressed the market, 40 per cent of councils in Scotland experienced a rise in registrations - Argyll & Bute, for example, has witnessed a 400 per cent increase on new home registrations, with NHBC having received 84 more applications than the same period last year.
Both the City of Aberdeen and the City of Edinburgh have shown considerable increase in the past three months, with rises of 94 and 76 per cent on 2008 levels respectively.
Other councils that have shown a considerable rise on the same period last year include the Scottish Borders (90 per cent), West Lothian (63 per cent) and Renfrewshire (46 per cent).
Malcolm MacLeod, NHBC Director for Scotland, said: "Although house building figures in some Scottish councils are still quite low, the overall picture is one of slow, yet steady growth. It is important to remember that this is not a free-flowing market and banks are still anxious when it comes to lending; however, builders are beginning to start activity, albeit with a cautious approach."
NHBC statistics for Scotland during the three months to the end of August also revealed:
- Of the 1,576 applications to start new homes in the combined private and public sectors during the three months to the end of August, 1,332 were related to private sector activity (i.e. excluding housing associations) - 11 per cent lower than the same three-month period last year (1,492)
- New build completions in the combined private and public sectors in Scotland totalled 2,484 in the same three months to end of August 2009 - 44 per cent lower than the same period a year ago (4,473).
NHBC publishes a quarterly booklet of its new house-building statistics - to subscribe, visit http://www.nhbc.co.uk/Builders/Shop/Publicationsforsale/
Ends
Note to editors:
(i) Full breakdown of new homes registered in Scotland by Council from June to August 2009:
Council |
June to August 2009 |
June to August 2008 |
Percentage Increase / (-) Decrease |
Aberdeenshire |
161 |
188 |
-14% |
Angus |
30 |
24 |
25% |
Argyll & Bute |
105 |
21 |
400% |
City of Aberdeen |
60 |
31 |
94% |
City of Edinburgh |
72 |
41 |
76% |
City of Glasgow |
57 |
142 |
-60% |
Clackmannan |
27 |
0 |
N/A |
Dumfries & Galloway |
23 |
33 |
-30% |
Dundee City |
9 |
80 |
-89% |
East Ayrshire |
2 |
68 |
-97% |
East Dumbartonshire |
4 |
15 |
-73% |
East Lothian |
69 |
49 |
41% |
East Renfrewshire |
8 |
43 |
-81% |
Falkirk |
65 |
71 |
-8% |
Fife |
72 |
182 |
-60% |
Highland |
126 |
120 |
5% |
Inverclyde |
14 |
118 |
-88% |
Midlothian |
67 |
59 |
14% |
Moray |
33 |
31 |
6% |
North Ayrshire |
13 |
14 |
-7% |
North Lanarkshire |
133 |
127 |
5% |
Orkney Islands |
12 |
29 |
-59% |
Perthshire & Kinross |
20 |
47 |
-57% |
Renfrewshire |
67 |
46 |
46% |
Scottish Borders |
40 |
21 |
90% |
Shetland Islands |
1 |
7 |
-86% |
South Ayrshire |
9 |
19 |
-53% |
South Lanarkshire |
102 |
241 |
-58% |
Stirling |
51 |
0 |
N/A |
West Dumbartonshire |
38 |
43 |
-12% |
Western Isles |
1 |
4 |
-75% |
West Lothian |
85 |
52 |
63% |
Totals for Scotland |
1,576 |
1,966 |
-20% |
NHBC is the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK. It was established more than 73 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 approximately 1.6 million homes.
News Date: 28/09/09