Northern powerhouse leads way in UK's building boom

The Royal Mail has mapped the UK's building boom and pinpointed Manchester as the spot where the most plans for new developments have been submitted.

In fact, the Northern Powerhouse is powering ahead of other regions, according to the Royal Mail data. Leeds, Wigan and Liverpool are all just behind Manchester in the number of new building developments in the pipeline.

In Manchester, 9,127 new development plans have been applied for in the last three years.

The Royal Mail's "Not Yet Built" database report looks at the construction industry across the UK. It notes that annual construction output has increased nationwide by more than 50 percent in the last five years, trebling in the last 20.

What's fuelling this surge is the demand for new housing. The output for new-builds has increased by 99 percent since 2013, with flats accounting for almost a quarter of all housing across the country.

In London, 98 percent of properties are flats, but in other areas of the south coast, such as Brighton & Hove and Bournemouth, flats now make up half of the overall property count.

Tower Hamlets in London has been pinpointed as the UK's fastest-growing "housing hotspot", with the biggest percentage increase in house building in the borough from 2010 to 2017. The number of homes built grew by 14 percent in Tower Hamlets in that time. Corby, in Northamptonshire, recorded an 11 percent rise in the same period.

Cornwall, where affordable housing is an issue for locals because of the number of properties snapped up as holiday lets, is the local authority with the largest amount of new homes built in the last five years, a total of 17,450.

In the north-east, east Midlands and Wales, the most common type of housing built in the last five years are detached homes.

In London, the north-west, West Midlands, east of England, south-east, south-west and Yorkshire and the Humber, flats are the most common type of property built in the last five years.

Steve Rooney, head of the Address Management Unit at Royal Mail, said: “As we deliver to over 30 million addresses across the UK, our 'Not Yet Built' database is notified of any new building developments - either business or residential.

"I hope we'll be delivering to most - if not all - of these fledgling properties in years to come."

And Lord Jim O'Neill, vice-chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, welcomed the news of the rise in developments in the area.

He added: "It has been clear for some time that parts of the Northern Powerhouse, in particular the north-west, are actually doing far better than people seem to think; even outperforming London in some areas.

"The unique aspect of the Northern Powerhouse, and why it is so crucial in rebalancing the economy, is that its towns and cities are close enough to create a true single market, which can have a significant national impact."