New-start volumes are set to rise by around 18% this year, according to over 200 of the UK’s leading house builders surveyed by Knight Frank.

The companies, who were polled for the agency's 2011 Housebuilding Survey, also expect completions to rise by 13% and site acquisitions to rise by around 25%.

Construction costs are expected to rise by 2% this year, having remained flat for the last year due to spare capacity.
Prices are also expected to rise, albeit slightly, after a year in which they fell 3%.

In terms of land, greenfield land values rose by 2% between October and December while English urban land values fell by 1%, and in London by 3%. Nevertheless, values remain 40% below the peak recorded in Q4 2007.

Separately, SmartNewHomes claims that there is higher house price growth in areas with higher rates of new development.

New data from the portal comparing price growth over the last one, three and five years across all nine English regions reveals that on average, each region saw house price growth of 0.63% for every 1,000 new homes completed in that area over the last year.