New housebuilding starts during October reached their highest point since the downturn began, according to latest NHBC statistics released today.
NHBC chief executive Imtiaz Farookhi said the 9,163 NHBC registrations in October supported what many in the industry were saying – that the worst may be over.
“However, these figures are still well below the buoyant levels we saw in late 2007 and it is still very difficult to predict when and to what extent recovery will come,” he said.
“The coming months will be a testing time for the industry, and it may be some time before we can confidently say the industry is in recovery.”
Full statistics for the third quarter show 24,896 registrations, a 27% increase on a year ago. The vast majority of regions improved the previous quarter’s figures, with all regions improving compared to the same period in 2008. Greater London leads the way with 4,167 registrations.
Private sector applications were 45% up across the UK to 16,630, while the public sector saw an increase of 3% to 8,266.
