Prime minister David Cameron’s bringing forward (by three months) of the second part of the flagship Help to Buy scheme has also highlighted how the government sees the housing sector as a key driver for the economy, event though fears are being expressed it will create a new housing bubble.
A 25% rise in new home registrations for the first eight months of 2013 was reported in the NHBC’s latest bulletin, while the Construction Products Association (CPA) latest State of Trade Survey says sales of building products continued to strengthen during the third quarter.
NHBC said 90,730 new homes had been registered around the UK up until the end of August, compared to 72,740 a year earlier. For the rolling three months June-August a 15% growth was recorded.
"These figures are the highest for this January-August period since 2007 which is obviously encouraging news, but illustrates the significant difference in the number of new homes being built six years ago and now," said NHBC commercial director Richard Tamayo.
"Our latest statistics continue the pattern we have seen over the course of the year, with new home registration figures showing a noticeable improvement on recent years but still considerably down on pre-economic downturn figures."
Meanwhile, the CPA witnessed a significant rise in construction product sales "across the board".
It said product manufacturers were increasingly optimistic about Q4 sales growth, with most expecting higher sales over the next 12 months.
And the PMI confirmed that housebuilding activity grew at the fastest rate in nearly 10 years during September. The index has now risen for five months.
Markit, which compiles the PMI with CIPS said construction companies were feeling confident that new tenders would further grow the sector in coming months.
The second stage of the Help to Buy scheme helps housebuyers buying a house under £600,000 to obtain a 95% mortgage, with 15% guaranteed by the government.
