Planning approvals

A definite quickening of pace is evident in the data for last month, with Scotland and north-west England leading the race to build. However, Yorkshire, Wales and Northern Ireland are experiencing a development hiatus, and activity is low in Greater London

New-build completions

Completions in the private sector rose across the board in March compared with February. This increase was spread pretty evenly through the regions, albeit with the South-east powering ahead and the West Midlands lagging behind. Kate Barker will be pleased

Buyer demand

There seems to be a spring in the step of homebuyers. Our SmartNewHomes demand index shows that the average price homeseekers are willing to pay is up by 2% overall. If that home is a semi, then buyers may be willing to pay even more...

This data is provided by Glenigan, the development monitoring service. More than 10,000 new UK housing projects are tracked by Glenigan and this information is used by housebuilders to quickly spot new sites and to identify potential land sales as soon as they become available. For details contact Marcus Oughton, projects editor: marcus.oughton@glenigan.emap.com For a FREE TRIAL to Glenigan’s service visit: www.glenigan.com

NHBC

NHBC is the standard-setting body and leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK. Established 65 years ago, its primary purpose is to help raise the standard of new homes and to provide consumer protection for new homebuyers. NHBC statistics are derived from NHBC registered builders, who build approximately 85% of new homes throughout the UK. NHBC provides detailed, up-to-date bulletins on new home construction through its quarterly statistics booklets. For further information visit the website at www.nhbc.co.uk

Methodology

The New Homes Demand Index is based on enquiries recorded on the SmartNewHomes.com website and records the price people are willing to pay for new homes, by region and type of property. If willingness to pay is increasing, then clearly demand for new homes is improving and this is likely to lead to higher realised prices and better deals for housebuilders. The Demand Index also tracks migration between regions. By subtracting the number of users based in a region from the number of searches in that region, one gets a net balance that reflects an overall propensity to move out of or into a region.

Smart New Homes

SmartNewHomes.com is a registered subsidiary of Smart Media Services, a marketing business working exclusively within the residential property sector. With more than 5,000 new homes from more than 1,600 developments on line, the site represents the largest database of individual new homes on the internet. SmartNewHomes.com currently attracts more than 400,000 visits a month.