There was a significant rise in the number of new homes granted planning permission in the third quarter (Q3) of this year, according to the latest data released by the Home Builders Federation (HBF).
The HBF's Housing Pipeline report reveal that approvals for 33,881 new homes across England were granted in Q3, an increase of 36% on the previous quarter (24,872 new homes) and 17% on the corresponding period last year (29,059 new homes).
These figures are a welcome increase, although the number of new homes is still well short of the 60,000 per quarter needed to meet demand for housing, or the 64,500 that were being granted at the height of the property boom in 2006/07.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF, said: "The increase is good news and hopefully a reflection of the positive planning principles of the new system. It is just one quarterly increase and we are still well short of the number needed but we hope it starts a trend that will continue in 2013."
Planning permissions granted now will generally see new homes developed over the next three or four years. Around 110,000 new homes a year in England are currently being built, against a requirement for 240,000, so the need to see a continued and steady increase on the number of permissions granted is quite clear.
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg pledged to provide increased support to the new homes sector with a £225m funding boost, with an emphasis on helping housebuilders establish a new generation of locally-driven "garden cities".
Speaking at the NHBC's Annual Lunch, Clegg said: "The babyboomers of the fifties and sixties, people who were largely catered for by the massive housing expansion after the Second World War, are now watching their children struggle.
"The plight of the next generation is making what was an abstract housing shortage increasingly tangible and real. And as we, as a society, become more open to development that creates the space for politicians to be bold."