According to latest figures from National House Building Council new home registrations reached 7,385 in December, 3% up on the same period last year.
Added to the previous 11 months, this means year end numbers look set to end approximately 30% higher at 115,458 registrations in 2010 compared to the dismal 88,083 recorded in 2009.
Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, said: “No one is popping champagne corks but there is a growing belief that the worst is now behind us and we’re on the road to recovery.
“The pace and extent of that recovery really depends on factors out of the hands of the industry, such as mortgage availability and monetary pressures on consumers. These are the biggest obstacles that the house building sector now faces for the coming year.”
NHBC statistics: October – December 2010
- Private sector registrations were up 1 per cent (to 18,551) when compared with the same period last year (18,393)
- Public sector registrations were 8,711 – 13% higher than the same period a year ago (7,685)
- Registrations in the combined private and public sectors were 5 per cent up on the same period in 2009 (27,262, up from 26,078)