23 Feb UK Housebuilding Returning To Pre-Covid Levels
In a rare piece of good news at the moment, it seems that housebuilding in the UK is bouncing back and staging a return to levels seen before the pandemic, with new figures showing that there were 123,51 new homes registered in 2020.
While this is 23 per cent down on the figures seen the year before, according to the National House-Building Council (NHBC), the last quarter of 2020 saw the sector gather pace, with 39,749 new homes registered – just two per cent down on the same period in 2019, Buy Association reports.
For the construction sector as a whole, the biggest drop was seen in the second quarter of last year, with many sites around the country having to close because of the coronavirus crisis, leading to construction delays. However, the summer months saw a quick rebound as the industry adapted to covid-secure ways of working.
Chief executive of the NHBC Steve Woods said: “Last spring saw a sharp shock to the housing market and it is heartening that by the close of 2020, productivity levels had moved very close to those seen in late 2019.
“Confidence in the housing market, particularly for newly-built homes, remains strong with many larger housebuilders forward sold into the summer despite the continued impact of the pandemic and prevailing economic uncertainties.”
Earlier this month (February), the Federation of Master Builders called on the government to make sure that measures are introduced in the forthcoming Budget that help boost construction in order to help drive the economy, following PMI data showing that both output and employment construction contracted in January.
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