House-building levels in the UK continue to show an improvement on recent years, with figures for July 19% higher (13,539) than the same month last year (11,391) according to the NHBC.

There was a 30% increase in the May-July 2013 period when compared to the same period in 2012 with 37,738 homes built compared to 28,951.

Richard Tamayo, NHBC Commercial Director, said: "July was a bumper month for new home registrations, particularly for the private sector.

"As we have emphasised over the course of the year, this recovery is from a relatively low base but nevertheless reveals that builders are beginning to meet the growing demand to provide the new homes that the country desperately needs. Looking ahead we hope that the rest of the year continues this long overdue recovery story."

The private sector reported the highest number of registrations since February 2008 with 10,300 new homes registered in July 2013 compared to the 10,465 homes registered five years previously.