NHBC data showed UK housing starts indicator exceeds long-run average in 2015

National House Building Council data, an industry group in UK, said on Thursday that 156,140 houses and apartments were registered for construction by British builders in 2015. The number was up 7 percent from 2014, a level last exceeded in 2007. The rise was highest since the financial crisis, despite a slowdown in the second half of the year. The NHBC said it expected further single-digit percentage growth in 2016.

The NHBC figures cover about 80 percent of the industry and are based on payments by homebuilders for insurance on projects that usually start within a few weeks, though sometimes later. Property prices are rising as demand for housing outstrips supply in UK. Britain's government aims to build an extra million homes by 2020, amounting to 200,000 houses per year. Total registrations, which are a leading indicator for housing starts, rose 7 percent in 2015, slowing slightly from the 8 percent rise in 2014.
 
"There is still a long way to go before we are building the levels of new homes that were seen before the economic downturn, but 2015 represents consolidation on the growth seen over the last three years," NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said.