Today NHBC released their
annual statisticson the number of new homes registered to be built in the UK. Lewis Sidnick, Director of Corporate Affairs, explains what the numbers mean and NHBC’s role in raising standards across the sector.
Q. Based on your latest statistics, are we on track to build one million homes by 2020?
NHBC does not forecast the number of homes being built, however our data out today shows that growth has continued in 2015. There was a 7% increase in the number of new homes registered on the year before. The numbers are clearly heading in the right direction.
Q. How do these numbers compare to previous years? Is housing still a political priority for the Government?
The figures show we registered 75% more new homes in 2015 than we did at the time of the housing crash in 2009 – the lowest point for the industry in recent years. In addition the 2015 figure of total new homes registered stands at 156,000, a continued increase on the 146,000 in 2014.
I think housing is still a top priority for the Government. Both the Conservatives and Labour prioritised housing in their election manifestos, and after forming a majority Government, the Prime Minister has made a number of key announcements - in fact the first announcement he made on the first Monday in 2016 was about new housing policies to support the industry.
Q. Is the growth we are seeing balanced across all sectors and all regions of the UK?
Yes we are seeing growth across the UK with 9 out of 12 regions having more homes registered in 2015 compared to the previous year. For example, the North West had 16% growth, Scotland had 15% and in London over the last three years, on average 27,000 homes were built each year - 80% higher than the average number of annual homes built per year over the previous 26 years.
Q. Given this rapid expansion of building, are standards in new build homes being compromised?
NHBC’s purpose and passion is to support the industry with the construction quality of new homes. It is essential that as the quantity of new homes increases, the quality remains high.
The 2015 National New Home Customer Satisfaction Survey found that 86% of homebuyers would recommend their builder to a friend, and the same number were pleased with the overall quality of their new home - up from 76% 10 years ago.
Q. What is NHBC doing to ensure that the homes we are building are of the highest quality?
Our challenge for 2016 and beyond is clear: to help support the industry maintain these high standards. We are certainly not complacent and we are delivering a range of exciting and innovative new initiatives to support the industry. These include the NHBC
Home User Guide(HUG) to improve communications with homeowners;
Construction Quality Auditsto more accurately track new build quality; and a new
Register of Site Managers, aimed at capturing key information that reflects site manager experience, qualifications and capability in relation to construction quality.