Public housing drags down September starts

Aaron Morby 14 years ago
Share

There were no signs of a let up in the deepening housing crisis in September as registered starts fell yet again.

The National House Building Council received 8,750 applications from builders last month, a drop of 12% from August and 3% on September last year.

The latest set of bad figures come weeks after the Government pledged to return the industry to historic building levels, with fresh measures aimed at stimulating affordable house building.

The worsening house building market could become a major political embarrassment to the Prime Minister, after he personally promised a housing revolution to build the country out of the crisis at this year’s party conferences.

The brunt of this month’s fall was felt in social housing, where September’s figure was 16% down on last year. But private home registrations did manage to edge up 2% against September 2010.

In the first nine months of this year, only 93,870 applications to build new homes have been registered, just 6% more than the same nine month period last year.

The figure was almost half the 15,871 recorded at the peak in September 2007 and underlined the size of the task ahead if Government is to restore house building to traditional levels over the next four years.

The three-month trend figure show registrations treading water, with private sector starts replacing the 8% fall in public housing compared to last year.

NHBC chief executive Imtiaz Farookhi said: “Although headline registration volumes are marginally above last year’s for the UK, viewing the figures in absolute terms underlines the real scale of the challenge facing the whole house building industry.

“Just this month the Government announced its ambition that 230,000 homes need to be built each year by the end of 2015.

“But meeting this target will require a bold approach from the coalition. Ultimately, the many pressing issues currently being debated, such as homelessness and housing costs, are rooted in the chronic undersupply of new housing.”

He added: “The Government therefore needs to not only remain strong on policy already announced but also must be prepared for further assertive action if it becomes clear that house building volumes in the UK continue to remain at perilously low levels.”

Latest news

Lorne Stewart pulls plug on modular arm as losses mount

MDSL modular business wound down as parent LSRM reports £1.9m loss
3 hours ago

New law to force tower block cladding fix by 2029

Jail threat looms as £1bn fund launched to fix unsafe social housing
15 hours ago

Infrastructure Pipeline published with 780 projects worth £530bn

New online tool to provide live updates on hundreds of schemes
20 hours ago

World’s largest crane lifts Hinkley dome: Video

Construction times cut by 30% on nuclear site
18 hours ago

Aviva funds council housing push in north London

Barnet council seals first big institutional funding deal for housing
3 hours ago

Tarmac lands Welsh road repairs deal

Tarmac will also be able to bid for improvement work on the A55 North Wales Expressway
3 hours ago

Flannery invests £22m with JCB to boost fleet

Plant hirer strikes latest deal with machinery giant as fleet investment continues
20 hours ago

BAM boots Danny Sullivan off £100m HS2 bat tunnel

Contractor terminates labour supply deal on controversial project
1 day ago

Mace confirmed for £200m Paddington overstation job

Helical JV also sets start date for 429-room student job over Southwark station
1 day ago

Kier names new construction boss for clients and markets

Rebecca Boundy promoted to lead sector teams after year of framework wins
1 day ago

Elements Europe went down owing supply chain £8.7m

Korean owner kept offsite specialist afloat with £71.8m of loans in bid to stem losses
2 days ago

Bristol awards £288m civils and highways framework

Eurovia, Tarmac, Colas and regional SMEs share 10-lot deal
1 day ago

Kier seals PCSA deal for £55m Bridgend school

Heronbridge special school move back on track after cost hike and delay
1 day ago

Mobile crane fire closes M11 motorway

City Lifting machine catches fire in Essex
1 day ago

Altius and Erith win landmark London tower rebuild

Westminster council advances Huguenot House redevelopment
2 days ago

Corbyn suppliers left £4.4m out-of-pocket

£33m-turnover civils contractor only employed eight staff
3 days ago

McAlpine to restore England’s largest Victorian water tower

Colchester’s iconic ‘Jumbo’ to be reborn as visitor destination
2 days ago

Andrew Scott lands £20m Grand Pavilion revamp in Porthcawl

Restoration of landmark Art Deco building gets underway with 2027 finish target
2 days ago

Keepmoat profit drops 35% as completions slide

Land pipeline expands to 24,400 plots as firm eyes rebound
2 days ago

Bid race begins for £425m water transfer scheme

Contractors invited to help shape Affinity Water project
2 days ago

Legacy building defects return to haunt Barratt Redrow

House builder sets aside £248m for Redrow fire and concrete frame fixes
3 days ago

Skanska agrees £153m price to revamp A47 Thickthorn junction

New link roads and underpasses to ease traffic near Norwich
3 days ago

First tower plans go in for £1bn Liverpool Pier Head site

First design will "set tone" of scheme which could contain 60-storey tower
3 days ago

Barhale creates new low-carbon chief board role

Haddon takes board seat while Solomon becomes eastern regional director
3 days ago

Met Police preps £300m framework for estate upgrade

Early market talks start ahead of October bid contest
3 days ago

Raft of SME firms win £94m framework places

More than 50 demolition and asbestos specialists chosen: Full list
3 days ago

GRAHAM gets go-ahead for £110m Boddingtons Brewery revamp

Work to start this summer after Gateway 2 approval secured
4 days ago

Thames Water finance chief joins BAM UK & Ireland

Abigail Farrell-Black joins contractor as new finance head after senior roles at Thames and Southern Water
4 days ago

FM Conway profit jumps to £33m under Vinci

Turnover hits £608m and cash surges £68m just two months into new ownership
4 days ago

McAlpine breaks ground at £1.25bn Port Talbot green steel job

Port Talbot switch to scrap-powered production by 2027
4 days ago