Number of new homes registered in London dropped by a third last year
New home registrations in London dropped by a third last year as developers put the brakes on building following stamp duty reforms and the Brexit vote.
The number of registrations – or homes developers plan to build – dropped from 25,760 in 2015 to just 17,322, according to figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC).
Read more: Barratt Developments reports sales struggles in London
The slowdown in London dragged on the figures for the UK as a whole. The total number of new registrations in the UK fell by two per cent, from 155,504 to 151,687. However, excluding London, the number of registrations rose from 129,744 to 134,365; registrations were up in seven out of the 12 regions analysed.
The NHBC said the figures were "in keeping with what other developers have said". Barratt has had to cut prices on its London homes due to lack of demand and recent figures showed that London is the only region in the UK where house prices are falling.
The London housing market has been rocked by George Osborne's stamp duty hikes on homes worth more than £1m – these houses in central London have had their prices slashed by more than 30 per cent due because they won't shift.
NHBC business development director Mark Jones said: "Taking into account the extraordinary events of 2016, the UK housebuilding sector has remained resilient, despite initial caution around Brexit. We have also seen some strong regional growth outside of London. Both industry and consumer confidence remains high and early signs indicate that the new year has begun positively."