New house building statistics revealed today show little improvement in the number of new homes in the pipeline. Figures pointed to an increase in registrations during the last quarter, but at a rate still too low to meet housing needs, according to NHBC statistics out today.
Meanwhile, figures from the Home Builders Federation showed that the number of planning permissions granted in England in the last quarter was the second lowest in five years.
The HBF statistics were compiled by Glenigan and show that there were 25,171 residential planning permissions granted in the second quarter of this year.
The figure is 24 per cent less than the previous quarter, and 23 per cent less than the same time last year. According to the HBF, 60,000 new homes are required per quarter to meet the current housing shortfall.
The number of social housing projects approved has also dropped dramatically with just 3,200 for the second quarter – less than half the total seen over the previous three months.James Abraham, economist at Glenigan, told Inside Housing ‘Planning approvals have been on a downward trend for eighteen months, and this continued over the second quarter of 2011.’
In terms of new registrations, the NHBC says that July saw a dip in registrations (from 14,565 in June to 11,310 in July); however nearly 6,000 more new homes were registered with NHBC in May – July 2011, compared with the same period last year (from 30,771 to 36,716).
Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, said: “We have seen growth in registration numbers; however, given the reduction in central Government funding for social housing, we will need to see an upturn in private demand if the increase in volumes is to continue over the next few years.
NHBC statistics for the rolling quarter May – July 2011 also show that:
- Private sector registrations were up 16% (to 23,996) when compared with the same period a year ago (20,679)
- Public sector registrations increased by 26%, from 10,092 to 12,720.
Five million people are currently on local authority waiting lists in England.
In another development, the government has dropped plans to make housing associations pay VAT on architects and other two-tier professionals fees on design and build contracts. Housing associations said this would have cost the sector millions.
