"In addition, house builders face a multitude of other challenges, including meeting Government targets to build zero carbon homes and increase housing supply, alongside ongoing uncertainty in the UK housing market amid fears of a recession in the US.

"The industry must continue to focus on these issues and any fresh challenges which might follow the appointment of the new Housing Minster, Caroline Flint MP. NHBC will continue to provide the industry with the tools to respond to the challenges of the housing agenda and we remain committed to ensuring consumer protection remains paramount."

Additional NHBC statistics for 2007 reveal that, based on actual selling price, the proportion of new homes priced at over £150,000 in Great Britain went up to 74 per cent, an increase on 2006 (71 per cent).

First time buyers found their ability to buy recovered slightly in the final quarter of 2007 from its lowest level ever recorded level in quarter three. NHBC's first time buyers' ability to buy index increased by four points during the quarter to 37 (the revised figure for quarter three 2007 was 33). The index is based on a formula which takes into account the average cost of homes bought by first time buyers, average income and mortgage interest rates (from the Nationwide Building Society). The higher the index, the greater the ability to buy.

The number of Housing Association completions in the UK rose during the year, with applications totalling 28,996 - an increase of 13 per cent on 2006 (25,671).

The average number of daily sales of new homes in the UK for 2007 was 572, a decrease of five per cent on the average for 2006 (600).

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