Key Statistics: 24th September 2013

Construction

• The flow of housing planning approvals eased during the second quarter of the year to just over 37,000 units, down 8% on the first three months.  But the housing recovery still maintained momentum with the number of homes granted planning approval during the first half still 22% up on a year ago to 77,686 units.  Glenigan’s research shows that the moving annual total is steadily moving in the right direction, jumping by a third to 156,608 approvals, since the trough of 117,067 two years ago.  Allan Wilén, Glenigan’s economics director, said: “While off the high point seen at the end of 2012, the number of approvals remains significantly ahead of a year ago.  “The current strengthening in housing market activity points to a further potential rise in planning approvals during the second half of the year as housebuilders bring forward sites for development during 2014.”

• House prices in England have reached a record high, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  The ONS house price index for England alone is now 0.9% higher than it was at the previous peak in January 2008.  The index for the whole of the UK is just short of its peak in 2008, but very close to it.  However, large rises in London and the South East are distorting the figures for the whole country.  Prices in London rose by 9.7% over the past year, according to the ONS, and the capital is the only area in the UK where prices are rising faster than inflation.  But excluding London and the South East, prices in the rest of the UK only rose by 0.8% in the year to date, and prices are falling in Scotland, Wales and Northern England.  Overall, annual house price inflation rose to 3.3% in July, up from 3.1% in the previous month.

• The most recent figures from the Land Registry, which records house sales in England and Wales, indicate the market is well below the peak reached in November 2007.  Howard Archer, Chief UK Economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "We are currently some way off any new housing bubble developing, with activity still relatively limited compared to pre-crisis levels."  IHS Global Insight has predicted a rise of 7% across the UK in 2014.