27
Aug
House-building slowdown has 'run its course'
The dramatic scaling back in house-building activity since the
onset of the credit crunch has probably run its course, according
to one property expert.
Brigid O'Leary, a senior economist at the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors, which has approximately 100,000 qualified
members, said that the increased government funding for Registered
Social Landlords is clearly having a significant impact on building
activity.
Her comments follow the publication of data from Communities and
Local Government earlier this week, which showed that both housing
starts and completions in the second quarter of 2009 were higher
than in the first quarter, by 63 per cent and 24 per cent
respectively - although housing starts remained nine per cent lower
than the same period last year.
"It was encouraging to note that housing completions rose to
39,320, the highest level since the first quarter of 2008 and above
the average quarterly completions rate [37,300] since 1997," said
Ms O'Leary.
