Housing

Notes and definitions for house building data

For definition of a dwelling, type of dwelling, tenure and general definition of a household see Definition of general housing terms .

Introduction

These tables relate to new permanent dwellings started and completed within the quarter they are reported. Figures are subject to revision for late returns. Figures for Northern Ireland are provided by the Department for Social Development, those for Wales and Scotland by the National Assembly for Wales and Scottish Executive respectively.

Stages of construction

Started

A house or flat is counted as started on the date work begins on the laying of the foundation, including 'slabbing' for houses that require it, but not including site preparation. Thus when foundation work commences on a pair of semi-detached houses two houses are counted as started, and when work begins on a block of flats all the dwellings in that block are counted as started. The starts of houses in building schemes are usually phased over a period of weeks or even, in very large schemes, months.

The figures shown for starts are derived from records kept for building control purposes. It is sometimes difficult for data providers to identify whether a dwelling is being built for a RSL or for a private developer. This is because sometimes the builders themselves are not sure of the precise ownership or the ownership may keep evolving and it is not final until it was sold. This may lead to an understatement of RSL starts and completions recorded in these table, and a corresponding overstatement of private enterprise figures. The problem is more likely to occur with starts than completions.

Completed

In principle, a dwelling is regarded as completed when it becomes ready for occupation whether it is in fact occupied or not. In practice, there are instances where the timing could be delayed and some completions are missed for example as no completion certificate was requested by the owner.

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