Member Article

New Build Home Statistics Drop For Second Year

New build homes statistics in the UK have dropped drastically for the second year running, and action has been called for to kick start the house building industry. The latest figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) shows a 10% reduction in the amount of new homes being built between April and June 2012 in comparison with the previous quarter.

Just 21,540 new build homes were in process, the lowest figure since the same period in 2009. This three year decline is a depressing statistic, and reflects the economic struggle we have faced since the recession first hit the UK in 2008.

Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said the “paltry” amount of new build homes is hardly even one-third of the amount needed to meet the current and increasing demand. “These figures demonstrate the widening scale of the problem in delivering sufficient new housing. It’s clear something bold is desperately needed to address the current housing crisis.”

According to the latest figures, of the total new homes being built between April and June 2012, there was a 7% decline in those being built as part of projects by private developers, and those being built as part of housing association development projects dropped by a shocking 23%.

The amount of new build homes that were completed also dropped by 6% between April and June 2012, despite promising increases seen during the latter quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.

The lasting impact of the 2008 credit crunch has been blamed for the disheartening statistics, as developers now struggle to find funding for new build projects, while the general public are finding it ever harder to get a mortgage, and some are resigning themselves to renting for the foreseeable future.

Right from the start of 2008 figures showed a rapid decline the start of new builds, and this began to slow during the first quarter of 2009, but never actually stopped.

There was some hope when it seemed the industry was recovering during the latter half of 2009, with completions having tended to slightly increase over the last year or so, but new build starts have remained on a decreasing slope.

The good news is developers are working with websites like What House? to bring consumers attainable new build homes across the UK, helping both first time buyers by rounding up the UK’s affordable homes, as well as offering part exchange opportunities to those wanting to upsize, downsize or simply wanting to move into a new build rather than live in an old property with age and structural issues.

The Government is also offering a NewBuy scheme, aimed at helping people get a mortgage for 95% of a new build property value.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Mechan .