Housing statistics quarterly update: September 2020

2. Delays and estimations to new housebuilding statistics due to COVID-19

The Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update as at September would usually include an update on all-sector new house building starts and completions to end March 2020, with more recent figures on social sector new builds to end June 2020. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 on the provision of new housebuilding data by some local authorities to the usual timescales, this has slowed the timing of the data collection process over this period. This publication therefore includes figures on all-sector new house building starts and completions only up to end December 2019, with more recent figures on social sector new builds only up to end March 2020. 

These impacts on the provision of data have also meant that a small number of local authories have been unable so far to provide any data yet on new build figures since the start of the pandemic period. We have therefore estimated private-led new build starts and completions figures for East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow City and Highland local authority areas, and have estimated local authority led new build starts and completions figures for the Stirling local authority area. Private-led sector estimates have been based on an average of the previous four quarters, whilst local authority sector estimates have been based on separate figures taken from Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme data. 

This publication also includes some revisions for the number of local authority sector starts and completions figures for East Ayrshire Council, which were identified following a cross-check of site level figures to those held by the Council.  Further details on these revisions are available in the Excel tables.