New home registrations in the UK remained resilient in 2016 despite Brexit uncertainty, NHBC says

The number of new homes registered in the UK has remained resilient despite the uncertainty post Brexit vote, according to a report published on Friday by National House-Building Council (NHBC).

The NHBC report revealed that there was an on-year increase in the number of both new semi-detached homes and new-build detached homes across the UK in 2016. Semi-detached homes saw a total of 38,999 registrations, marking the highest annual levels since 1986.

New build detached homes saw a total of about 46,118 registrations in 2016, which is the highest for this property type since 2004..

NHBC's report was based on data from about 12,000 registered builders, who construct around 80% of the new homes built in the UK. These registration figures represent homes that are to be built in the months ahead.

The report was not all positive as there was a year-on-year decline in the number of apartments being registered in 2016. Data also revealed that there were about 38,912 apartments that were registered in 2016. The report said this decline came as the number of family-sized homes being registered increased.

Apart from apartments, the total number of new homes of all types being registered in 2016 was also revealed to have declined last year. This was down 2% year-on-year to 151,687.

Region-wise, the NHBC report showed that the UK capital had witnessed one of the biggest declines. New-build registrations fell by 33% year-on-year in London in 2016.

NHBC business development director, Mark Jones was cited by Reuters as saying that this was amid several factors such as "the timings of the registrations and the build coming through including the impact of Brexit in those early months."

Other areas that saw a decline include Scotland, West Midlands, East Midlands and Eastern England. The registrations in these areas dropped on-year by 9%, 2%, 8% and 5% respectively.

Meanwhile, several regions witnessed a year-on-year jump in new-build registrations in 2016, including Yorkshire and Humberside, which saw a 27% annual increase. The South East and the North West regions also had increases of 14% and 12% respectively.

Commenting on the overall report, Jones was cited by the Belfast Telegraph as saying, "Taking into account the extraordinary events of 2016, the UK housebuilding sector has remained resilient, despite initial caution around Brexit. We have also seen some strong regional growth outside of London.

"Both industry and consumer confidence remains high and early signs indicate that the new year has begun positively," Jones said.