Affordable housing growing more slowly than private, according to latest figures from NHBC

The number of new homes registered with warranty provider National House Building Council (NHBC) has risen 40% year-on-year.

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New data today shows 28,724 new build homes were registered for NHBC’s 10-year warranty in July to September, up from 20,449 the previous year.

The overall rise was fuelled by a 58% increase in registrations for private homes. Affordable and build-to-rent homes registrations increased at a lower rate, by 12%.

Steve Wood, chief executive at NHBC said: “With house builders cautiously optimistic about growth prospects, we anticipate an upward trajectory for new home registrations in 2025, but with the health warning that the stubborn barriers in the planning system and around skills shortages must be tackled.”

Wood said the 12% increase in rental and affordable registrations “belies challenging conditions for housing associations where capital budgets are focused on the remediation and retrofit of existing stock, alongside high spends on temporary housing.”

Every region or devolved nation in the UK saw a rise apart from London and Northern Ireland.

In London registrations fell by 50% from 2,665 to 1,334.

The drop off in activity in London was also underlined by separate data this week from the Greater London Authority showing there were 973 GLA-funded housing starts in the capital in the first six months of 2023/24, of which 582 were affordable. This compares to 3,244 overall starts and 2,358 affordable in the whole of 2022/23.

The regions with the largest year-on-year increase in registrations was the south east, with an 84% rise, followed by the North West (81%) and North East (78%).