Family homes boom
How detached houses are back in vogue as building hits seven-year high
DETACHED houses are back in favour as developers return to building large family homes, the latest figures show.
The number of new homes registered to be built is at its highest level for seven years as the economy picks up.
More than a quarter of these will be detached – the greatest proportion for a decade – as buyers find they can afford family-sized houses once again.
Industry analysts said the improved economic climate had helped revive the trend for detached homes. Divorcees and childless couples looking for more room are also thought to be joining families in fuelling their popularity.
The National House Building Council said 40,281 new homes were registered between January and March, the highest total since the last three months of 2007. Of these, 10,600 were detached – the highest number since the third quarter of 2004, when it was 11,500.
It means detached homes now make up 26 per cent of new builds, which is the highest rate since 2003 when it was 29 per cent.
At the height of the economic crisis in 2008, the figure dropped as low as 15 per cent as developers focused on building blocks of flats.
Builders register with the NHBC before starting work, so the figures represent homes that will be built in the months ahead. The industry body said it was an ‘encouraging start to 2015’ and that ‘housing growth remains strong across virtually every part of the UK’.
Steve Turner, of the Home Builders Federation, said: ‘This confirms that housebuilding is continuing to tick upwards. For a time, housebuilding slowed because people could not raise the deposits or get the mortgages.
‘But over the past 18 months, housebuilding activity has been driven by the improved availability of mortgages. This has been helped by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, which allowed people to buy new build properties with a smaller deposit.’
More than 145,000 homes were registered to be built last year, compared to just 88,000 in 2008, the organisation said. This could rise to 160,000 this year if the current levels are sustained.
The East of England saw the greatest rise in registrations in the first quarter of the year, with 70 per cent more new homes listed than during the same period a year ago. The south-west and south- east also saw strong growth, while only the north-east and London experienced a fall.
In recent years, the Coalition has sought to boost house building by cutting the red tape around planning laws. The National Planning Policy Framework in 2012 said councils which had not earmarked land to meet housing demand must presume to be in favour of granting planning permission elsewhere.
But critics say neither the changes to planning laws, nor the modest rise in housebuilding, have been enough to rectify the severe housing shortage. Paula Higgins, of the HomeOwners’ Alliance, said: ‘This is a step in the right direction.
‘However we must not lose sight of the fact that the UK still has a chronic shortage of new homes
‘This means sky-high house prices are increasingly becoming the norm as is a whole generation being priced out of home ownership.’
Campbell Robb, of charity Shelter, said: ‘This is just a drop in the ocean compared to the 250,000 [new homes] we need each year to fix our housing drought.’