‘Critical point’ for housing industry amid fall in new home registrations

The National House Building Council (NHBC) said 26,231 new homes in the UK were registered in the third quarter of the year, down by 13 per cent compared with 30,279 in the third quarter of 2025.

With affordability pressures continuing to weigh on demand and supply-side barriers constraining delivery, private sector registrations fell by 8 per cent to reach 18,359, compared with 20,054 a year earlier, the NHBC said.

Registrations in the rental and affordable sector fell by 23 per cent to reach 7,872, down from 10,225 in the third quarter of 2025.

The NHBC has a 70 per cent-plus share of the UK warranty and insurance market for new build homes, and its figures indicate the stock of new properties in the pipeline as homes are registered with it before being built.

Daniel Pearce, chief strategy officer at the NHBC, said: “The housing industry is at a critical point.

“Demand remains fragile, affordability is stretched and our latest figures show that the pipeline of new homes is continuing to shrink.

“Without action to support demand and tackle the barriers to delivery, increasing housing supply will remain extremely challenging. “

The NHBC said the biggest annual percentage falls in new home registrations it recorded in the third quarter of this year were in the South East of England and Northern Ireland, with a 32 per cent decrease recorded.

But some regions saw growth in new build registrations, with a 27 per cent increase in Yorkshire and the Humber and a 10 per cent increase in the West Midlands.

Following a 170 per cent annual increase in the second quarter of 2026, new home registrations in London broadly returned to the same level as in the third quarter of 2025, the NHBC said.