Housing starts rose a fifth in 2021 but remained below pre-pandemic levels

Registrations of new build homes rose 21% last year as the market bounced back from pandemic lockdown disruption.

Figures from the National House Building Council show 153,339 new build homes were registered in 2021, up from 139,333 in 2020, which was heavily disrupted by covid-19 restrictions (see chart below)

The figure is still down, however, on the previous three years, with 160,159 registered in 2017, 158,873 in 2018 and 160,159 in 2019.

The 25% increase year-on-year was driven by the private sector registrations, which rose 40% to 114,477.

New home registrations in the rental sector decreased 8% however from 42,460 to 38,862, which NHBC said was due in part “to the deflection of housing association capital budgets towards safety remediation on existing housing stock”. Housing associations have been scaling back development as they tackle building safety and decarbonisation

The NHBC figures show registration growth in 11 out of 12 parts of the United Kingdom, with only London seeing a decline (see table below.)

The largest percentage growth in registrations were in the north east, which had a 74% rise, the east Midlands (50%) and east (46%).

NHBC said that the 27% decrease in London was “due to a combination of pandemic effects and some hesitation on apartment block registrations”.

Registrations of detached homes rose 47% year-on-year from 35,520 to 52,190. New registrations of flats however fell 15% to 27,867.

The NHBC said: “The pandemic has caused some change in attitude towards housing, with more people using their home for work, as well as reflecting on recreational and family life. Registrations for detached, semi-detached, terraced homes and bungalows all increased in 2021”