Q1 2001 new house building statistics UK 14/02/06
In Great Britain the average expected selling price of new homes started during the first quarter of 2001 increased by seven per cent on the same period in 2000. Despite this increase there is good news for first time buyers who also found their ability to buy improved in the first quarter. The figures are published in NHBC's (National House-Building Council) report for quarter one 2001.
The average expected selling price of new homes (registered with NHBC) was £135,000 during the first quarter of 2001, a seven per cent increase on quarter one 2000 (£126,000). Based on actual selling prices, the proportion of homes priced at over £100,000 went up to 53 per cent, a significant increase on the same period last year (46 per cent). NHBC's first time buyers' ability to buy index increased by one point during the quarter to reach 116, a slight rise over the figure for the fourth quarter of 2000 (115). The index is based on a formula which takes into account the average cost of homes bought by first time buyers, average income and mortgage interest rates (from the Nationwide Building Society). The higher the index, the greater the ability to buy. Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, says: "The new statistics point to a slowdown in the new homes market. UK housing starts and completions in the first quarter were both eight per cent lower than a year ago. We will be watching the situation over the next few months to see if this is a temporary blip or a long-term trend." UK-wide figures show a total of 39,895 applications to start new homes during the quarter, an eight per cent decrease on the same period in 2000 (43,430). Of that total, 36,095 relate to private sector activity (i.e. excluding housing associations), and show an eight per cent decrease on 2000 (39,360). Housing association starts totalled 3,800 - a decrease of seven per cent on quarter one 2000 (4,070). NHBC figures show there were 33,035 new build completions during the first quarter of 2001, showing drop of eight per cent on the same quarter last year (36,045). The figure for the average daily sales of new homes in the first quarter of 2001 is 506, a decrease of three per cent on the same period a year ago (521). ends
