Nearly 153,000 new dwellings (excluding conversions and change of use) were completed in England during the financial year ending 31 March 2005, according to figures in Housing Statistics 2005

Released from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister last week, the figures show this is the third year running where there has been a significant increase over the previous year. The latest increase, at 6% is the highest of the three annual increases.

The tendency towards the building of smaller residential properties can be seen from the fact that the number of flats built as a proportion of all new properties increased from 20% in 2000/01 to 41% in 2004/05.

House prices

In 2004 house prices continued to rise across all regions. In the North of England (NE, NW and Y&H), the rise is further up than the previous year with all 3 northern regions over 21% and NE as much as 26%.

In contrast, the rest of England experienced a decline in the increase. Most dramatic decline is in the East by over 10%. SE, East and London have the lowest increase; all are just about 7%. The remaining 3 regions still maintained a rise of between 10 and 15%.

First-time-buyers

The impact of the recent house price boom on first-time buyers with a mortgage can be seen in a number of ways. The proportion of first-time buyers under the age of 25 has fallen from 23% in 1994 to 18% in 2004. And the proportion of purchases by first-time buyers for £100,000 or more has risen from just under 6% in 1997 to 58% in 2004.

Under-occupation and over-crowding

Under-occupation is far more common than overcrowding. Only 2.5% of households are overcrowded while 36% of households are under-occupied. London has the highest proportions on overcrowding (7%) and lowest in under-occupation (25%).

As household size increases overcrowding tends to become more common and under-occupation less common. For example, of households with 5 or more persons, 19% were overcrowded and only 10% under-occupying. This tendency is most pronounced in the social sector where 32% of households with 5 or more persons were overcrowded and only 0.9% under-occupying.

Housing expenditure

Results from the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS) showed that on average general housing expenditure (including rents and mortgage payments but excluding capital payments other than those under repayment mortgage) accounted for 18% household disposable income. For those who have a mortgage and the private renters, their figure is highest reaching a quarter of their income.

Housing Statistics 2005 can be found by going into the ODPM website, at www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1156389