New figures show UK housebuilding growth

Starts for new homes up seven per cent

Alex Johnson
Friday 09 May 2014 12:43 BST
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A new report from the National House Building Council shows that 33,816 new homes were registered in the UK during the first three months of this year, compared to 31,739 for the same period a year ago.

The NHBC figures show that Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol are the top three cities with the highest number of new home registrations outside London which registered 7,693 new starts. The full top ten, with their numbers in brackets, are:

1. Birmingham (3,406)

2. Manchester (2,625)

3. Bristol (1,570)

4. Newcastle 1,496)

5. Liverpool (1,494)

6. Sheffield (1,169)

7. Leeds (990)

8. Nottingham (700)

9. Glasgow (618)

10. Bradford (560)

NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said: "Our new figures show further sustained growth and consolidation in the UK house building industry following a strong year last year. Over the past 15 months we have seen a genuine return of confidence to the industry as builders strive to meet the growing demand for new homes that the country clearly needs.

"London continues to be the major driver for growth in house building. But our figures also show that other UK cities outside the capital are also showing some encouraging signs of growth. However, we have been clear that this growth is from a historically low base. The UK still has a chronic shortage of new homes so we must not get complacent in our continued attempts to meet the growing housing needs of the population."

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