Top-25 builders' sales hit £4.4bn

The new housebuilding market in 1997 was worth £8 billion, a 14 per cent improvement on the previous year.

During 1997, the top 25 housebuilding groups strengthened their dominant position. Their market share reached 55 per cent - at the start of the 90s they had little more than a one-third share of the market.

The 1998 Housebuilding Market Report, published this week by Key Note, shows that in 1997 the total value of new private housebuilding rose by 20 per cent to £6.7 billion, well ahead of the previous peak of £5.7 billion in 1994.

In the public housebuilding sector, however, there was disappointment as a 9 per cent fall to £1.3 billion took the value of this specialist market to its lowest figure since 1992.

New housebuilding output, including both public and private sectors of the market, has climbed by 38 per cent in the last seven years.

But even at its new high of £8 billion, total new build is still dominated by housing repair and maintenance, a market worth £15.8 billion.

The largest 25 builders increasingly dominate, moving their market share up from 38 per cent to a 55 per cent market share between 1990 and 1997. Over the same period the slice of the market won by builders with 500-plus starts climbed from 41 to 59 per cent.

l The 94-page Housebuilding Market Report for 1998 by Key Note is available from Clare Williams on 0181 481 8750.