Housing statistics: quarterly update, June 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 December 2015. Whilst more up-to-date information is available for local authority and housing association new build, findings for these sectors are mainly presented up to December 2015 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 4 figures (from October to December) 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 in starts and completions across all sectors.

Chart 2: Annual all sector new build starts and completions, years to end December, 2006-2015

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

Trends over the last ten years:

Chart 2 shows that between 26,000 and 29,000 homes were started each year between 2006 and 2007 (years to end December) whilst completions were slightly lower, around 25,000 to 26,000.

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. Home completions for all sectors fell more gradually between 2010 and 2011, before increasing through 2014 and 2015.

Trends to end December 2015:

There were 3,988 new build homes completed between October and December 2015; a 5% decrease on the same quarter in 2014. This brings the total for the year to end December 2015 to 15,954, up 3% (479 homes) compared to the 15,475 completed in the previous year.

There were 3,585 new build homes started between October and December 2015; 12% fewer than the same quarter in 2014. This brings the total for the year to end December 2015 to 17,231 which is up by 3% (508 homes) compared to the 16,723 homes started in the previous year.

Comparison with the rest of the UK from 2006 to 2015:

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 below that of Northern Ireland but above that of England and Wales throughout the 2006 to 2014 period. In 2015, the Northern Ireland rate dropped slightly below that of Scotland for the first time since 2006. The rates in all countries have generally dropped since 2005/06, but have risen over the latest two years in Scotland, England and Wales.

The 15,954 homes completed in Scotland in the year to end December 2015 equates to a rate of 30 per 10,000 population. This is higher than the equivalent rates in England (26), Wales (22) and Northern Ireland (29).

Chart 4: New house building as a rate per 10,000 population for UK countries, years to end December, 2006-2015

Sub-national figures for the year to end December 2015:

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 December 2015, as a rate per 10,000 population.

In the year to end December 2015 the highest new build rates were observed in Midlothian, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Aberdeenshire and Orkney Islands, and the lowest in Argyll & Bute, Dundee City, Clackmannanshire, and Dumfries & Galloway.

Map A: New build housing - all sector completions: rates per 10,000 population, year to end December 2015