Industry body says new house undersupply is getting worse
HOUSE BUILDING continued to slump in 2012, a lobby for homeowners revealed today, continuing the chronic undersupply in the UK market.
New home registrations declined to 9,553 in August, four per cent below last year’s figure of 9,978, according to data from the National House-Building Council (NHBC). This brought the total for the year-to-date up to 72,740 – meaning the first eight months of 2012 saw some 15 per cent fewer applications than the same period last year.
“Viewing new home registration figures in absolute terms, year to date, underlines the real scale of the challenge facing the whole house building industry at the moment,” said Richard Tamayo at NHBC.
Tamayo said government intervention was needed, but that it could only be successful if state and industry worked together.
“The continued undersupply of new housing means the UK is missing out on a potential source of much needed economic growth – this obviously needs to be addressed,” Tamayo added.