UK New House Building Statistics - April 2005 18/05/05

Statistics released today by NHBC reveal that the number of UK applications to build new homes in April 2005 decreased when compared with figures for April last year.

In April 2005 12,381 applications were made to start new homes in the UK in the combined public and private sectors, showing a 13 per cent decrease on the same month in 2004 (14,207). Private sector starts for the month were 10,154, showing a 17 per cent decrease on April 2004 (12,239).  There were 2,227 UK housing association applications, showing a 13 per cent increase on April of the previous year (1,968).

Imtiaz Farookhi, Chief Executive of NHBC, says: "Despite a decrease in April in the number of applications to start new homes, NHBC statistics reveal that there is little change in the number of completions compared to a year ago. The number of new build completions for the combined public and private sectors totalled 13,860 in April this year, compared with 13,917 in the same month last year."

Additional information from NHBC reveals that an average of 515 new homes were sold each day during April 2005, a 17 per cent decrease on the same month last year (619).

Note to editors:

NHBC statistics are based almost exclusively on information relating to its 19,000 (approx.) registered house builders who construct around 85% of the new homes built in the UK.  As such they represent a unique source of detailed, up-to-date information on new home construction and the house building industry.