ROOF Blog

Applications to build houses across the UK rose in the last quarter of 2009, according to the NHBC. It said applications to build new homes between October and December 2009 rose 64 per cent from 15,879 to 26,078 compared with the same period in 2008. This was driven by the private sector, where applications surged 113 per cent, from 8,646 in the last quarter of 2008, to 18,393 in 2009. Public sector demand saw a six per cent rise, from 7,233 to 7,685. Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of the NHBC, said: ‘Our house building colleagues across the industry have shown cautious optimism as they reveal their predictions for 2010. Now the nation’s housebuilders need support from the government as they see their way out of this downturn and try to meet the need for new homes.’

Britain is unlikely to return quickly to the peak rate of housebuilding during the boom of the past decade, the chief executive of Taylor Wimpey has said. Despite reporting a rise in demand for new homes that was better than expected - running at nearly a third higher than the dark days at the end of 2008 - Peter Redfern said that planning requirements would hold back a wholesale recovery in building volumes. Mr Redfern said: ‘At the peak, the industry in the UK was building 170,000 units. That has halved and last year the industry completed around 85,000 to 90,000 units. It will be a very long time before we get back to those high volumes because of the constraints on land availability and the planning system.’

The UK’s largest privately owned housebuilder said the availability of loans to homebuyers would be a crucial ingredient in a return to a stable housing market. Delivering an upbeat trading statement for the year to December 31, Miller Group, the Edinburgh based building, construction and property company, said it was seeing a gradual improvement in the housebuilding market in spite of a demanding economic environment. ‘Volumes are low but the demand has fallen a long way as the money to buy is not as readily available and the balance with supply is now much more in line,’ said Keith Miller, chief executive. ‘However, if we are to see any degree of long-term stability, it is crucial that the housing market gets a continuing supply of mortgages,’ he added.