According to the data, over a ten-year period between 2010 and 2019, 1.4 million new homes were registered to be built across the UK. These figures represent the first complete decade since the financial crash in 2007/08.
In 2019, 161,022 homes were registered with NHBC, an 81% increase on the 88,849 homes registered a decade ago (2009), making 2019 the strongest year for NHBC new home registrations since 2007. Over the same period, the West Midlands (169%) and North West (148%) have seen the highest percentage increase of new homes registered.
Compared to the previous year, the number of homes registered in 2019 was up 1% (2019:161,022 v 2018: 158,878). Growth was driven by London, where new home registrations increased by 37%, with both the capital’s affordable and rental (+42%) and private housing markets (+33%) performing strongly.
The Build to Rent sector had another positive year with registrations up 57% in 2019 compared to 2018. New home completions in 2019 of 150,436 were also marginally up on the previous year (149,702).
As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC's registration statistics are a lead indicator of the UK’s new homes market.
Steve Wood, NHBC CEO, comments: “It is great to see the resilience of housebuilders over the 2019 year. This momentum needs to be maintained as we enter a new decade, with the industry ever-more focused on quality and fire safety.
“At NHBC we remain committed to our purpose of giving homeowners confidence in the quality of the nation’s new homes and working with housebuilders as the industry faces into the skills, supply chain and environmental challenges in front of us.”
Mary-Anne Bowring, managing director at Ringley, comments: “The irony is as Britain looks to leave the European Union our housing market is starting to look a lot more European, with apartments now a growing part of the housing mix.
"Many of these apartment blocks are being funded by institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers to serve as rental properties with single ownership and on-site management. This is good news for Britain's renters, as it will help create a more professionalised rental market like what's already available in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, where institutional landlords have been around for decades and as a result, renting isn't considered a tenure of last resort.
"A bigger question is posed by the apartment blocks containing flats for sale, with Britain's traditional leasehold system proving controversial in the wake of the ground rents scandal and issues around cladding following the Grenfell tragedy. The government has made some progress in giving clearer guidance for leaseholders and freeholders on both issues, but consumers, investors and developers need greater clarity if we want to avoid protracted court cases and continued confusion."
Helen Gordon, CEO of Grainger plc, comments: "Today's figures are good news for Britain's renters, with the number of registrations for build-to-rent homes up massively over the past five years. High quality, purpose-built rental housing that is professionally managed will offer consumers a genuine alternative to the traditional private rented sector, where the quality of service and accommodation can be mixed.
"More broadly, BTR can also support regional economies and UK productivity by creating homes that are flexible yet secure in tenure, allowing people to move between job opportunities more easily and also access areas they couldn't necessarily afford to buy in like city centres."
