December 2001 new house-building statistics
UK NEW HOUSE BUILDING STATISTICS: DECEMBER 2001
Statistics released today by NHBC (National House-Building Council) show UK applications to build new homes increased by six per cent in December 2001 when compared with figures for December last year.
A total of 8,258 applications were made by the private sector and housing associations to start new homes in the UK, up six per cent on the same month in 2000 (7,764). Private sector starts for the month rose to 7,407 showing a one percent increase on December 2000 (7,365). There were 851 UK housing association applications, over double the amount on the previous year (399).
Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, says: "Despite a big increase in housing market sales in 2001 and the largest growth in house prices for over a decade, house builders started one per cent fewer new homes. This situation may ease if the Government's proposals for radical reform of the planning system are adopted. However, it will be some time before they have any impact on house building levels."
New build completions for both the public and private sectors totalled 10,973 in December 2001, a 13 per cent decrease on the same month last year of 12,666.
Additional information from NHBC reveals that an average of 523 new homes were sold each day during December 2001, an increase of nine per cent on the same month last year (481).
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