New home registrations keep rising

The number of new homes registered with the National House-Building Council (NHBC) across the UK continues to run ahead of 2014 numbers.

There were 12,459 new homes registered with the NHBC in April 2015 which is a 4% increase on the 11,985 homes registered in April 2014.

Of these, 9,268 were private sector and 3,191 were public sector, up from 8,955 private and 3,030 public in April 2014.

For the rolling quarter February to April, registrations increased by 20% compared to the same period last year to 41,307, up from 34,451 last year. This follows the strong first quarter growth reported by NHBC earlier this month.

NHBC provides warranty cover for approximately 80% of new homes built in the UK so its statistics provide a good indication of building trends.

Private sector registrations increased by 24% during the three months of February to April 2015 to 31,083, up from 24,993 in 2014. The public sector was up by 8% to 10,224, from 9,458 in 2014.

NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton said: “The very positive start to the year continues, with the growth in new home registrations unaffected by uncertainty ahead of the general election, and so 2015 is likely to be another strong year.

“Now that the outcome of the general election has been decided we look forward to continuing our work with government to ensure that housing remains at the top of the political agenda to help us get back to pre-recession building levels.”