"The gain reflects house builders' increasing confidence in the market and also the positive principles of the new planning system."
- Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation
Another sign of a growing housing bubble in Britain came out on Monday, when Home Builders Federation said in its statement that the number of homebuilding approvals surged 49% in the second quarter on back of strong government assistance. Home approved for construction in the U.K. climbed to 37,000 from the same period a year ago, while the total number through June hit 156,608, posting a 34% gain from the lowest year-long period, which ended two years ago. The data means confidence among market participants is growing and suggesting government measure are feeding through the economy. Meanwhile, investors have already reserved 12,500 homes through government's Help to Buy scheme, while Funding for Lending Scheme helped to push mortgage costs significantly lower. Amid growing signs of a property market bubble, the HBF said the approval rates remain still below the 220,000 per year needed to meet the demands of a constantly growing country's population.
Mirroring last month's trends, another heavy data period for Britain is expected this week, as on Thursday the Office for National Statistics will unveil growth figures, which is forecasted to stay at 0.7% quarter-on-quarter. On an annual basis, however, growth is predicted to accelerate to 1.5%.
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