As the numbers of kitchen and home renovations continue to rise, latest figures released this week show that new house building levels continue to fall, according to NHBC. In August 2012, the number of new homes registered with NHBC dropped to 9,553, which is 4 percent less than August last year (9,978). This takes the overall year to date figure for 2012 to 72,740 applications - a 15 percent decrease on the same period in 2011 (85,120). NHBC Commercial Director Richard Tamayo says Viewing new home registration figures in absolute terms, year to date, underlines the real scale of the challenge facing the whole house building industry at the moment. Just this month, the Government announced a series of measures aimed at supporting the house building industry in its capacity as a key driver for economic growth. These measures are certainly needed but their success will only be realised through a concerted effort by the industry and government to ensure they are taken forward. The continued undersupply of new housing means that the UK is missing out on a potential source of much needed economic growth this obviously needs to be addressed.