Homes at the heart of the election debate

In your expert opinion how is the house-building market performing?

There are encouraging signs in the market and there continues to be decent growth in house-building. In 2014, NHBC figures showed the number of new homes registered to be built increased by 9% compared to the previous year. However, we are coming from a very low base in 2008/9 and this is clearly having an impact beyond the direct market. The average age of first time buyers has gone up and the gap between supply and demand has widened. However, the market is heading is right direction.

Will the Prime Minister's recent major housing announcement help the housing industry?

House prices across the UK have increased in recent years, and many people are struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder. The starter homes policy could make an important contribution both to the supply of new homes and affordability.

NHBC is working with all political parties to help produce policies that will support building more high quality new homes. As supply increases, our focus is to help ensure that new homes are high quality. About 80% of new homes are built according to our technical standards and about 1.6 million homeowners covered with our 10 year Buildmark warranty. So as we work to increase the quantity of new homes, it is important to remain focused on the quality.

Do you expect Labour to meet their policy of building 200,000 homes by 2020?

We welcome that Labour have made housing supply such a central plank of their economic strategy. NHBC figures for our market share showed we registered to build about 145,000 new homes in 2014. Clearly there is a long way to go to meet the housing demand, but our figures have continued to climb in recent years and with the right support and broader economic climate this target should be achievable.

What major challenges will exist for the next government?

A big part of the next challenge is to address issues such as ensuring we have enough skilled people to support the growth needed in the sector. Our research arm, the NHBC Foundation, has recently published some excellent work in this area focused on attracting the brightest and the best into the sector. For more information, visit www.nhbcfoundation.org

What do you expect the result of the general election to be?

The next election looks like being one of the closest for decades, and the polls remain so close it is very difficult to call. In the housing sector we have a degree of policy certainty because there is cross party consensus on the need to build more new homes. This policy certainty goes some way to neutralising the broader political uncertainty around the outcome of the next general election.

It will certainly be worth staying up all night to see the result!