Housebuilder confidence is increasing slightly

The building sector could be set to receive a boost over the coming months, thanks to the fact that there are now a higher number of plans for new UK property, an expert has claimed.

Brian Berry, chief executive at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), said that there are signs in the sector that the confidence in the construction of new homes is increasing slightly, because of the fact that there are now more properties being approved and subsequently built than there were in previous months.

This is likely to be an aspect of the market for properties for sale which has been helped by the fact that the government brought in new schemes to help people onto the ladder earlier this year. NewBuy and FirstBuy are both projects aimed at bringing the cost of obtaining a mortgage down, with each allowing people to get funding for buying a house while only spending five to ten per cent of the value of the house on a deposit, often them most expensive part of buying.

"Our own survey suggested that the proportion anticipating an increase in overall workloads in the coming months did rise at the beginning of this year compared to the end of last year, so there is more confidence among our members," said Mr Berry.

However, he also went on to say that this is not likely to be a trend which continues for too long, as people's confidence drops in the coming months and the number of new homes being brought into the market falls again.

"That said, given the general lack of confidence in the economy and the sharp decline in construction output at the beginning of this year, the general trend of a decline in workloads is likely to continue, despite pockets of confidence appearing."

It was also reported this week by Glenigan that even though the number of homes being built is falling, the amount of residential repairs being carried out is on the increase, if the first quarter of this year is anything to go by.