New builds at highest level since 2008 in UK property sector

UK-based property investors may be interested to hear that the number of new builds in the country is at its highest level since the second quarter of 2008.

However, sector experts have warned that the level of residential builds still might not be enough to avert a housing crisis.

Simon Rubinsohn, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) chief economist, said that the current number of new builds was about 50 per cent short of the level achieved at the high point of the previous housing cycle.

"The lack of mortgage finance for first-time buyers, coupled with a shortage of development finance, are two key factors holding back a more meaningful recovery in residential construction," he said.

Rics expects housing starts over the course of 2010 to total approximately 120,000 - a figure it says is short of the 170,000 seen during the middle part of the last decade.

Earlier this month, the coalition government decided to abolish the controversial Home Information Packs, which were designed to speed up the process of purchasing a property.

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