Construction shows ‘signs of recovery’

Several counties saw annual increases in the numbers of house building projects and planning applications last year, despite both being down on a national basis.

The National Housing Construction Index — published by independent planning research company, Link2Plans — shows a 5% year-on-year drop, on a nationwide scale, in planning applications and a 7% fall in project commencements.

The data covers the first 10 months of the year. While the national figures remain negative, they show a marked improvement on the first 10 months of 2012, when applications were down by 18%, year-on-year, and commencements 9%.