According to figures released from the Office for National Statistics, ONS, the UK economy grew by 0.4% in the quarter, faster than previously estimated at 0.3% in the first three months of the year, boosted by a better performance from the construction industry than previously estimated.
On an annual basis, the economy grew by 2.9% from the first quarter of 2014, up from a previous estimate of 2.4%.
Mortgage approvals in Britain rose in May to their highest level since March last year, …
according to data from the British Bankers’ Association. Approvals for house purchase rose to 42,530 from 42,020 in April, up 4% compared with a year ago.
Industry specialist Glenigan has seen a recent slowing in new sites being opened-up for development as the NHBC reports that unit starts remain firm, suggesting that house-builders are pressing ahead with building out existing sites.
The NHBC report that new home registrations for 2015 remain at a higher level than last year with strong growth reported in May: the private sector starts increased by 17% during this period (33,046 units in 2015; 28,216 in 2014).
The figures also show encouraging signs of a revival in the public and affordable housing sector which saw an 8% increase in registrations in May: the public and affordable sector was also up by 9% (10,941 units in 2015; 10,031 in 2014).
Household income boost
For 2014 as a whole, economic growth was revised up to 3% from 2.8%. That marked the fastest rate of economic growth since 2006.
The ONS figures showed household disposable income grew by 4.5% year-on-year, the fastest annual pace since the second quarter of 2001.
Retail sales volumes slowed somewhat in the 12 months to June from their strong rally in May, according to the CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey. The slowdown in headline sales growth from last month was mostly driven by the grocers sector, where volumes were flat in the year to June following May’s strong showing. Most other retail sub-sectors reported growth in sales volumes. Internet sales volumes rose again in the year to June. However, the rate of growth eased off slightly on the previous month.
A fall in export demand slowed the recovery in the UK’s manufacturing sector in June, although output growth and total orders are still above their long-run averages, according to the CBI’s latest Industrial Trends Survey.