Strong demand for new homes in Kent and Sussex

New home developer Hillreed Homes report that demand for its new homes in Kent and Sussex is growing with many properties being sold off plan, indicating that confidence in the new homes sectors is improving.

"Interest is high from buyers with many buying off plan and at one site alone we sold five houses during the May Bank Holiday weekend," said Jo Richards, marketing and corporate manager, Hillreed Homes.

Richards is positive about the new homes being built by Hillreed Homes in the South East, with a number of development sites now open or scheduled to commence build in the next few months, reflecting what she refers to as an "upward trend" in the new homes market place.

There is a general sense of optimism in the new homes market at the moment with a recent rise in new home registrations by house builders reflecting growing consumer demand for new homes.

According to the NHBC, new home registrations reached the highest monthly number for over three years during March 2011.

Both private and public sectors saw increases as 13,307 new homes were registered in the UK, the largest monthly figures since November 2007. This figure equates to 21% year on year and 49% increase on February's figure of 8,917.

Imtiaz Farookhi, Chief Executive of NHBC, commented: "Housing analysts have reported better than expected growth in house building during the first quarter of 2011 and our figures for March certainly reflect this positivity."

However, despite growing demand for new homes, a lack of mortgage availability, particularly for first-time buyers, continues to prevent many more people from buying new build homes, hampering the residential construction industry in the process, according to Steve Turner, head of communications at the Home Builders Federation.

Mr Turner wants to see financial institutions return to "sensible levels of mortgage lending" in order to help those people who want to buy a new home.