April 2000 new house-building statistics
UK NEW HOUSE BUILDING STATISTICS: APRIL 2000
Statistics released today by NHBC (National House-Building Council) show a fall of six per cent in April applications to build new homes as compared with the same month last year.
A total of 11,670 applications were made by the private sector and housing associations to start new homes in the UK during April, a six per cent decrease on the same period in 1999 (12,480). There were 10,230 private sector starts for the month, down seven per cent on April 1999 (11,035). Housing Association applications in April 2000 totalled 1,441, almost no change on last year's figure of 1,442.
Rod MacEachrane, NHBC's group director of operations, comments: "Strong growth in housing demand continues to produce only a modest response from the house building industry, possibly due to planning delay. New home sales were up 2% in the first four months of the year and completions were up 3%. Housing registrations over this same period were down 6% after sharp reductions in March and April."
New build completions for both the public and private sectors totalled 11,910 in April showing a decrease of 12 per cent on the same period in 1999 (13,510).
Additional information from NHBC reveals that an average of 567 new homes were sold each day during April 2000, showing a three per cent increase on the same month last year (551).
ends
