Labour's housebuilding target is branded 'effectively dead' as new home registrations slump by 13 per cent ahead of the Budget
Construction workers. The National House Building Council logged just 26,231 new home starts in the third quarter, down 13%, with affordable and rental registrations collapsing 23%.
Registrations plunged 32 per cent in both the South East and Northern Ireland, with Wales down 24 per cent; ten of the 12 UK regions posted falls. In the third quarter, just 26,231 new homes were registered, against 30,279 in the same period a year earlier. Rental and affordable registrations dropped 23 per cent to 7,872. Daniel Pearce, NHBC chief strategy officer, said the industry had reached a 'critical point'.
Private-sector registrations fell 8 per cent to 18,359 as affordability pressures bear down on buyers.
Pearce cautioned that 'the pipeline of new homes is continuing to shrink'.
Labour's Your First Home scheme offers 2.5 per cent deposits backed by 20 per cent state loans.
