<p><span>New home registrations increased <span>45% in the second quarter of this year, with completions returning to pre-pandemic levels, up </span>16% on Q2 2021, <span>according to the latest data from NHBC.</span></span></p> <p><span>During Q2 2022, a total of <span class="A9">66,855 new homes were registered to be built in the UK, compared to Q2 2021’s </span></span><span>46,217. NHBC said this increase was partly due to housebuilders wanting to beat the change in regulations in June “to minimise the cost impact”.</span></p> <p><span>New home completions totalled 40,289 during the period. The last time completions were above 40,000 according to NHBC’s figures was in Q4 2019 when </span><span>42,354 new homes were completed.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>The private sector led the completions increase in Q2 2022, up </span><span>23% on Q2 2021 at 29,963 new homes. Meanwhile, completions in the affordable and Build to Rent sector were the same year-on-year at 10,326.</span></p> <p><span>Eleven out of 12 UK regions witnessed growth in new home completions. Notable increases were found in the North East (1,781 in Q2 2022 against 1,284 in Q2 2021) and East Midlands (4,117 in Q2 2022 vs 3,071 in Q2 2021). Wales was the only region to experience a slight decrease - 1,183 compared to 1,189 in Q2 2021.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>Steve …