Affordable Housing Drop in registrations

The drop comes despite a 9% increase in overall registrations, with increased building in 11 out of 12 regions, according to National House Building Council statistics (NHBC) released today.

Public sector homes – those built by councils, housing associations and through planning agreements – fell from 36,271 in 2013 to 34,711 last year.

Developers are required to provide affordable homes when they gain planning permission for large schemes under s106 agreements.

But since April 2013, they have been allowed to negotiate down requirements for affordable housing if they can show it would reduce their profits and make the scheme ‘unviable’.

Neil Jefferson, business development director at the NHBC, suggested the decrease could be due in part to a slowdown in section 106 agreements.

He said: ‘In terms of the obligations for private sector developers to build, that has stabilised and levelled off.’

He said affordable house building was ‘cyclical’ and often dependent on the stage of the affordable homes programme.

However, with the 2011/15 programme due to complete in March, the numbers were generally expected to increase this year.

Overall, the NHBC registered 145,174 homes in 2014, up from 133,670 the year before. The rise was driven by a busy final quarter, which saw 38,157 homes registered, an increase of 17% on the equivalent period in 2013.

There were rises in every region in the UK with the exception of the east, with the fastest growth in Wales which saw 4,740 registrations – a 33% rise, following the introduction of Help to Buy at the start of 2014.

Yorkshire and the Humber, Northern Ireland, the West Midlands and the south east all saw faster growth than London which climbed 10% to reach 28,733 (see graphic).

The figures also showed a sharp increase in the number of detached homes registered, rising 24% from 30,849 to 38,113.

The NHBC registers new homes before they start on site.