New home building up 18% in England in second quarter of 2014

More homes are being built in England with housing starts up 18% in the second quarter of 2014 compared to a year ago, the latest construction data shows.

Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis announced that there were 36,230 new housing starts between April and June, bringing the total number of starts over the last 12 months to 137,780, a 22% increase on the previous year and the highest level of house building since 2007.

He pointed out that government efforts to help people onto the housing market are working with almost 40,000 households have bought a home through Help to Buy, with over 80% of sales going to first time buyers purchasing new build homes.

He said that the direct result is a new generation of home owners and a 34% increase in private house building during the first year of the scheme.

At the same time the construction sector has been growing for 15 consecutive months, and is currently experiencing the sharpest rise in house building orders since 2003, while companies are taking on new workers at the fastest rate since 1997.

He also pointed out that a growing pipeline of new projects is also emerging from the reformed planning system. Last year successful applications for major housing schemes were up 23%, and planning permissions were granted for 216,000 new homes.


However, some property industry experts are pointing out that this is still nowhere near the number of new homes that are needed. ‘The tide is gradually moving in the right direction but the UK property industry can’t forever compare itself against the benchmark of its deepest troughs. We still need to provide twice as many homes again every year,’ said Duncan Kreeger, director of lender West One Loans.

He pointed out that while planning changes and getting projects flowing are welcome policies, a bigger problem is that house builders are completing current projects first before starting on new sites.

‘For the required numbers of homes we’ve got to get started right away, as soon as sites become available. Greater resourcefulness is critical too. Converting and refurbishing is often easier and more profitable than the painstaking work of ground-up development,’ he explained.

Source: www.propertywire.com