The council said there were 89,600 registrations to the end of October, compared with 101,600 for the first 10 months of 2011.
“Our figures show there remains a clear deficit in the number of new homes being built in the UK, compared to last year,” said NHBC commercial director Richard Tamayo.
He said the council was encouraged, however, by the recent government commitment to back the industry with a £225m funding boost announced by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, with the emphasis on establishing a new generation of garden cities.
Mr Tamayo praised the new funding and moves to unlock almost 50,000 homes on stalled sites.
“It is an ambitious but very necessary proposal and we look forward to seeing how it develops in the new year.”
For the three months to October, new home registrations were almost unchanged at 26,440 with increases in the south-east, south-west, north-east and north-west and West Midlands.
A 13% drop to 3,701 was reported in Greater London.
