After a strong 2017, Steve Wood, NHBC’s chief executive, has said that he expects housing starts to rise further in 2018.

2017 saw more than 160,000 new homes registered to be built across the UK, marking the figure as a 10-year high for the UK housing industry.

Last year’s figure is a 6% increase on 2016, with new home completions also increasing by 4% compared to the previous year. This is according to figures by the National House Building Council (NHBC). Home completions were also at their highest since 2008.

And the increase in registrations is spread across the UK. Nine out of 12 regions saw an increase in registrations. Specifically, the North West, East Midlands and Wales saw a particular increase in growth.

London, which has not seen a year on year increase of registered new homes since 2014, was slightly up on 2016.

With the total figures for 2017 in and looking so positive, it bodes well for 2018.

Theresa May has stated that she wants construction of new homes to rise to 300,000 a year to tackle a shortage of housing.

Before the financial crisis, the UK did not have a housing construction boom with tight planning rules and a shortage of skilled workers working as key constraints.

However, the outlook for 2018 is positive according to industry experts. Steve Wood, NHBC’s chief executive, said:

“Looking ahead, NHBC will continue to work with the industry to help raise the standards of new homes. With 6% growth in the quantity of new home registrations, the focus on delivering quality for consumers remains critical.”