Communities secretary Eric Pickles said: “Last year we built the most homes since 2007 and even the appalling weather conditions this winter have not stopped our hardy builders from getting the job done.”
Pickles said the uplift in orders meant an increase in small firms benefiting from the surge in construction orders and more business confidence in the economy.
Earlier this week a report from property specialists Savills revealed that land values in urban residential markets such as Manchester and Birmingham had improved as housebuilders began buying up land now on the assumption sales rates had “bottomed out”.
The biggest constraint on supply since 2008 has been people’s inability to buy.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme has delivered around 2,500 new home reservations a month and in total has resulted in over 25,000 reservations mostly to first-time buyers.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF, said: “As a result of this increase in activity the industry is recruiting a significant number of people.
“The supply chain is also gearing up to meet the increased level of demand, generating an economic boost the length and breadth of the country.”
But Baseley warned the UK is still building at a rate well short of the number of homes the country requires.
“Government needs to continue to implement policies that result in a rate of house building that meets the country’s need,” he said.
“Doing so will deliver significant economic and social benefits.”
Housing minister Kris Hopkins today confirmed Whitehall departments have sold enough brownfield land to build 68,000 homes, the same number as in the whole of Blackpool.
And the government confirmed it is on track to release enough land for 100,000 homes by 2015, with over two-thirds of the programme completed.
