House building rises at fastest rate since 2008
The last three months have seen the fastest rate of house building since 2008, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). 32,230 homes were started between July and September of this year. Over the past 12 months, housing starts rose 16 per cent compared to the previous year, from 101,280 to 117,110.
The department also released a slew of figures concerning the government's Help to Buy home equity loan initiative. The first six months of the scheme saw 5,375 new homes sold, 92 per cent of which were to first-time buyers.
The average price of a property bought under the scheme was £194,167, with the average equity loan reaching £38,703. The largest number of Help to Buy sales were in Leeds, Wiltshire, Milton Keynes and Reading. The DCLG said that in the first seven months of the government scheme, 18,050 reservations were made for homes being built.
Housing minister Kris Hopkins said:
Today's figures show we are building at the fastest rate since the crash in 2008, more people are securing a place on the housing ladder, and we are delivering tens of thousands of affordable homes across the whole country.
But there's still more to do, and improving the housing market will remain a top priority. That means getting builders back on site, delivering new housing, more jobs and ensuring every hard working family has a place they can call home.