UK lags behind other European nations on new-build delivery
The UK is lagging behind several other major European nations on the delivery of new-builds, in relation to its population size, analysis has found.
The country’s construction sector was hammered by rising costs on supply and labour, as well as having works delayed or stalled due to Covid restrictions.
Countries including France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have built more homes during the pandemic, in relation to their respective population sizes.
The UK new-build sector delivered 175,180 new homes to market in 2020, Unlatch, a b2b software company for property developers, said.
This was well behind Germany, where 306,400 new homes were built and France, which marked the completion of 381,600 new-builds.
However, the UK exceeded the delivery of other countries, including Spain (77,500), the Netherlands (69,300), Belgium (62,700), Italy (49,100) and Portugal (17,300).
In relation to the population size of each nation, the UK delivered one of the lowest levels of new stock, with 261 homes built for every 100,000 people.
Only Portugal (168), Spain (164) and Italy (82) marked lower levels of new stock delivered.
In terms of total volume, the UK’s new-build market was “certainly up there as one of the strongest in Europe, Lee Martin, head of UK for Unlatch, said.
He added: “However, when you take population size and the arguably greater need for new homes into account, the UK’s performance doesn’t fair as well when compared to our European counterparts.
“In France, which is home to a similar population size as the UK, more than double the number of new homes were delivered to market in 2020.
“There’s a great deal that’s different about the new homes sector in each county, but there’s also a lot we could stand to learn from each other when it comes to both the construction process itself, as well as the consumer facing sales process.”
It comes as skyrocketing construction materials are slowing house-building progress in London, Sadiq Khan warned earlier this month.
The Mayor of London warned new-build developments and extension projects were being hit by a cocktail of rising costs thanks to Brexit and the pandemic.
Prices for materials, including steel, timber, and concrete, shot up 23 per cent last year, according to government figures.