Today, Advantage Structural Defects Insurance has been perusing the latest quarterly statistics on new housebuilding and affordable housing supply, which have recently been released by Scotland’s Chief Statistician.

In the year to end September 2019, 24,873 new build homes were started across all sectors. This was a 4,876 (24%) increase on the previous year and the highest number of homes started since 2007.

Private-led starts increased by 4,516 homes (34%), local authority starts increased by 377 homes (22%) and housing association approvals decreased slightly by 17 homes (0.3%). The total number of homes started across both housing associations and local authorities increased by 360 homes (5%).

This positive news follows a similar period of growth for Scotland’s commercial property sector, which Advantage wrote about last year.

The number of new build homes completed increased to 21,805, a rise of 2,972 new homes (16%) on the previous year and the highest number of completions since 2008. There was also a 19% increase in private sector new build homes from the previous year, with 2,668 completed. Housing association completions increased by 230, a 6% increase, while completions for local authorities rose by 74, an increase of 5%.

In the year to end December 2019, 9,317 homes were delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, an increase of 61 homes on the previous year.

In the same period 11,829 affordable homes were approved, a 6% decrease on the previous year, while 10,765 homes were started, an increase of 4%.

However, Scottish Construction Now sounded a note of caution regarding how sustainable increased output will be for Scotland’s construction sector in the coming months. They quoted Allan Callaghan, MD of Cruden Building, who stated: “It’s encouraging to see a return to construction output growth and this is reflected in our own strong performance, where the group has set ambitious targets to further expand our activities and boost housing delivery by 25% this year…

“On a cautionary note there is little doubt that the weather in the shape of the excessive rainfall may impact on output from the first quarter and the as yet unknown impact of the control of the Covid19 virus combined with the post-Brexit uncertainty are all factors which need micro and macro managed to maintain output.”

For more updates on factors affecting construction output, please visit our regularly updated news page. Or if you’d like to get in touch regarding a structural warranty, please pay a visit to our home page. Thank you for reading!

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