New houses up 13 per cent

House building figures for the three months to December were up 13 per cent.

08:45 18 February 2005

House building figures for the three months to December were up 13 per cent.

In this period house builders in England started 40,300 houses - a distinct increase from the figures for the same period in 2003.

As for housing completions, these remained level with the previous year's total of 42,100.

In the UK as a whole, 2003/04 witnessed 212,000 housing starts and 190,000 completions.

These were up eight per cent and three per cent respectively on 2002/03.

Regionally, the north and the Midlands saw the largest increase in house starts in this December quarter.

In the south-east, starts and completions both rose. This is part of a general upward trend, which has been in motion since 2002/03.

London has also seen "large rises" in starts and completions activity since mid 2003/04.
In 2004, 24,100 houses were completed - a staggering 31 per cent increase on the previous year.

These figures come just a short time after renewed concerns about first time buyers' ability to get onto the UK property ladder.

House building may be on the increase, but many will surely wonder whether it will actually be affordable for those who need it most.