Harsh weather during January held back the housebuilding recovery, according to NHBC’s latest statistics.
Its report shows new home starts were up 65% to 24,315 between November and January, compared to historical lows a year ago of 14,738.
However, the level is still some way off the 38,459 recorded two years ago.
“Optimism is still prevalent across the housebuilding sector, but there is no escaping that the harshness of the weather has held back recovery during January,” said NHBC chief executive Imtiaz Farookhi.
“The industry must now wait a further month to see if the recovery witnessed in late 2009 will carry through into 2010.”
New home registrations during January totalled 7,400 – a 56% growth on a year ago, but much lower compared to 2009 (11,512) and 2007 (17,700).
Private sector applications were up 115% on a year ago to 16,684, while public sector figures were 9% higher at 7,631.
The south-east continues to lead the way, with starts increasing to 4,416, up from 2,231.
Previous NHBC figures released showed 26,078 new home registrations were recorded between October and December 2009.
