A rise was also seen in the number of submitted detailed planning applications. Knight Frank said in a statement that analysis of the figures indicated that the rise in activity could continue in the years to come. "The data indicates that activity is being stepped up, something which several of the major house builders have pledged to do," it said.
Knight Frank said that the uplift was spread across most parts of the UK, with the highest rises recorded in Scotland and the West Midlands. It said that the data provided "increasing evidence" that the Government's Help to Buy scheme is set to boost housebuilding across the UK.
"We are continuing to see strong demand from the major housebuilders for development land," said Knight Frank head of regional land David Fenton. "It is interesting to note that Help to Buy has made the market less polarised and South East focused. Instead there has been a real increase in appetite for land in the Midlands and the North, which suggests that the trend of rising development volumes will continue especially in areas where employment is strengthening and the population is forecast to keep rising,” he said.
“Contrary to popular belief that housebuilders want to create “land banks” at present, they are driven by return on capital employed more than ever, so once they buy a site they will push to complete the units as soon as possible. This signals that the turnaround between planning consents and completions could be within months,” Fenton added.
Knight Frank said that, although the number of planning applications was increasing, housing completions in the UK would still be "far short" of the estimated 250,000 a year needed to meet the demands of a growing population.
