Rain dampens February's house-building numbers

The number of new homes registered with the National House-Building Council was down 10% in February 2014 compared to February 2013. There were 9,484 new homes registered in February 2014, down from 10,538 in the same month last year.

However, the rolling quarter December 2013 to February 2014 saw a 14% increase, rising to 29,557 new homes for the quarter, compared to 26,004 for the corresponding period 12 months before.

NHBC said that February’s slowdown was likely to be a result of the heavy rain slowing work on building sites. The southwest, which bore the brunt of the flooding, saw a 19% fall in registrations for the rolling quarter.

Commercial director Richard Tamayo said: “Although the results for February in isolation are not particularly strong, the rolling quarter shows that the number of new homes being registered continues to increase.

 “Our latest statistics show there is still a way to go before the country starts seeing figures on a par with pre-recession registration statistics, but the new measures revealed in last week’s budget show that the government remains committed to boosting the house-building sector.”

NHBC’s statistics show that private sector registrations in December 2013 to February 2014 period increased by 13% to 21,336, up from 18,824 a year before. Public sector registrations in increased by 14% to 8,221, up from 7,180 the previous year.

Full regional breakdown of total new homes registered December 2013–February 2014  by region/country:

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