The number of new homes registered to be built in the UK has topped 156,000 in 2015 – a continued increase of 7% on the previous year, new figures from NHBC figures have revealed.
Private sector registrations increased by 7% (118,611 in 2015; 110,674 in 2014), with the public sector increasing by 5% (37,529 in 2015; 35,685 in 2014). In total, 156,140 new homes were registered by NHBC in 2015 – compared to 146,359 in 2014 and the figures show NHBC registered 75% more new homes in 2015 than it did at the time of the housing crash in 2009.
Continuing the trend from 2014, the number of detached homes registered over the last 12 months (42,173) is the highest for over a decade. Additionally, the number of semi-detached homes registered in 2015 (35,423) is the highest in more than 20 years (36,757 in 1994).
NHBC’s latest data also revealed that the majority of UK regions experienced notable growth on 2014 levels, with the Eastern region (+23%), North West (+16%) and Scotland (+15%) leading the way. The East Midlands (+12%), South West (+9%) and West Midlands (+9%) also enjoyed a positive year, as did Northern Ireland (+30%) although this was from a relatively low base.
London is still leading the way in the number of new home registrations. Although the 2015 figure of 25,994 registrations is down 9% on the record 2014 total of 28,518, 2015 saw the third highest number of registrations on record. Yorkshire & the Humber is down 13% on 2014 and Wales is down 2% on 2014.
NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said: “We are pleased to report that 2015 was a year for continued housing growth in the UK. Both the public and private sectors have performed well and we have seen encouraging levels of house-building across most regions of the country. There is still a way to go before we are building the levels of new homes that were seen before the economic downturn, but 2015 represents consolidation on the growth seen over the last three years.”
