Housing statistics: quarterly update, December 2016

New Build Housing - All sectors

The new-build section of this document provides figures on the number of homes started (when the foundations are begun) and completed (when a building inspector deems the property complete).

Figures are presented for homes built on privately led (referred to throughout as private sector), local authority led (referred to as local authority sector) and housing association led (referred to as housing association sector) sites. For the private sector the latest information available is for the quarter ending June 2016. Whilst more up-to-date information is available for local authority and housing association new builds, findings for these sectors are mainly presented up to June 2016 to simplify comparisons between sectors.

The figures have not been seasonally adjusted and so commentary tends to compare the latest quarter with the same quarter the previous year. To help with this, Quarter 2 figures (from April to June) have been highlighted in the charts to allow easy comparison over time. Some of the peaks in the number of starts in Quarter 1 (January to March) each year are due to large numbers of housing association approvals being granted near the end of the financial year.

Chart 1 ( see here) shows the number of private sector, social sector and total new homes completed each quarter since 2005, whilst Charts 2 and 3 (below) show annual and quarterly trends, respectively, in starts and completions across all sectors.

Chart 2: Annual all sector new build starts and completions, years to end June, 2006 to 2016

Chart 3: Quarterly new build starts and completions (all sectors) since 2005

Trends over the last ten years

Charts 1 to 3 all clearly show the impact of the recession in the second half of the last decade, with private sector led completions in particular falling throughout 2008 and the start of 2009 (years to end June). Completions for all sectors fell more gradually between 2010 and 2013, before increasing to 2014, following which completions have been at similar levels for 2015 and 2016.

Trends to end June 2016

There were 3,973 new build homes completed between April and June 2016; a 4% increase on the same quarter in 2015. This brings the total for the year to end June 2016 to 15,991, up 4% (591 homes) compared to the 15,400 completed in the previous year.

There were 3,968 new build homes started between April and June 2016; 13% fewer than the same quarter in 2015. This brings the total for the year to end June 2016 to 16,450 which is down by 4% (681 homes) compared to the 17,131 homes started in the previous year.

Comparison with the rest of the UK from 2006 to 2016

Each of the countries of the UK produces their own statistics on new build housing and all use broadly consistent definitions. New build statistics for each of the countries of the UK, as well as for Great Britain and the UK as a whole can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building.

As Chart 4 shows, the rate of house building completions in Scotland has been above that of England and Wales throughout the 2006 to 2016 period (years to end June). The rate of house building completions in Scotland has been below that of Northern Ireland between 2006 and 2013, after which the rates have been similar although the rate in Northern Ireland was higher in 2016.

The 15,991 homes completed in Scotland in the year to end June 2016 equates to a rate of 30 per 10,000 population. This is the slightly lower than Northern Ireland (32), but higher than the equivalent rates in England (25) and Wales (22).

Chart 4: New house building as a rate per 10,000 population for UK countries, years to end June, 2006 to 2016

Sub-national figures for the year to end June 2016

The information on new build housing in Scotland is collected and published at local authority level. Map A, below, shows new house building in the year to end June 2016, as a rate per 10,000 population.

In the year to end June 2016 the highest new build rates were observed in Midlothian, Aberdeenshire, Perth & Kinross, East Renfrewshire and Stirling. The lowest rates were observed in Argyll & Bute, Angus, Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire.

Map A: New build housing - all sector completions: rates per 10,000 population, year to end June 2016