The National House Building Council (NHBC) said that 3,543 new homes were registered between May and July this year, when compared to 2,492 homes during the same period in 2014.

The figure is also up from the 3,442 new homes which were registered between March and May and the 3,189 new homes registered between January and March this year.

In the UK as a whole, the number of new homes being registered to be built across the UK continues to outperform 2014 levels.

Following the strong figures reported for Q2 2015, the new statistics reveal an increase of 14 per cent for the rolling quarter May – July, compared to the same period last year, with 43,684 new homes registered in the UK (32,521 private sector; 11,163 public sector). Last year, 38,365 new homes were registered in the same three month period (28,804 private sector; 9,561 public sector).

The public sector increased by 17 per cent during this time, when compared to the same period last year, providing further evidence of noticeable growth as a result of the changes to, and the extension of, the Affordable Homes Programme.

In July, registrations increased by 12 per cent, with 14,876 new homes registered (11,270 private; 3,606 public) compared to 13,320 in the same month last year (10,389 private; 2,931 public).

NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton said: “Following the strong growth we reported in our quarterly statistics, it is pleasing to see this progress continue into the second half of 2015. However, as we have continually stressed since housing output began to increase two years ago, the UK is still building way below the volumes of homes that we desperately need.”

Full regional breakdown of total new homes registered May – July 2015 by region/country:

Region

May – July2015

May – July2014

England - Regions

North East

1,638

1,375

North West

4,062

2,983

Yorkshire & the Humber

1,821

2,470

West Midlands

3,632

3,266

East Midlands

3,602

4,059

Eastern

4,752

3,555

South West

4,146

3,975

Greater London

9,118

6,326

South East

5,204

6,154

Totals for England

37,975

34,163

Scotland - Councils

3,543

2,492

Wales - Unitary Authorities

1,327

1,143

Northern Ireland - Counties

839

567

Totals for UK

43,684

38,365