New homes registered in London falls to lowest level since 2012

This is the lowest figure recorded in the capital for this period since the 3,286 homes registered with the NHBC in 2012.

The dip saw London, which usually leads the country in development output, drop behind every region in the UK except Wales, Northern Ireland, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber in terms of volume of new homes registered.

New homes are registered with a warranty provider up to three months before they start on site, meaning registration figures are the earliest bellwether of changes in the market.

The NHBC is the nation’s largest warranty provider, providing insurance for around 80% of the new homes built in the UK. It is possible that its market share could have changed in the capital, impacting the figures.

The North East, East Midlands, East of England, South West and South East all experienced a drop in registrations.

Its figures showed growth in six out of 12 UK regions, with the West Midlands (4,223 +33%), Scotland (3,709 +23%) and Wales (1,345 +56%) experiencing the largest growth.

The overall figures revealed a 19% rise in the ‘affordable sector’ covering development by social landlords from 9,429 last year to 11,220 this. It came as registrations by private developers dipped 7% from 31,381 to 29,123.

The NHBC said the increase was due to “a number of larger housing associations developing homes for market rent, private sale and shared ownership along with a rise in joint ventures with the private sector”.

Neil Jefferson, business development director at the NHBC, said: “New home registrations have remained stable in the second quarter of this year, with some areas of the UK seeing significant increases in registration volumes.”