May 2003 new house-building statistics
UK NEW HOUSE BUILDING STATISTICS: MAY 2003
Statistics released today by NHBC show UK applications to build new homes decreased by 10 per cent in May 2003 when compared with figures for May last year.
In May 2003 15,170 applications to start new homes in the UK were made for the combined public and private sectors, down 10 per cent on the same month in 2002 (16,903). Private sector starts for the month fell to 13,627 showing an 11 per cent decrease on May 2002 (15,340). There were 1,543 UK housing association applications, a one per cent decrease on May of the previous year (1,563).
Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, says: "May showed a ten per cent drop in the number of applications to start new homes and a modest one per cent increase in the number of completions. However, the number of housing association starts so far this year show a thirteen per cent increase on last year, suggesting encouraging growth in this area."
New build completions for the combined public and private sectors totalled 13,621 in May 2003, a one per cent increase on the same month last year (13,491).
Additional information from NHBC reveals that an average of 497 new homes were sold each day during May 2003, a 15 per cent decrease on the same month last year (582).
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