The top 20 fastest growing areas for new housing across the UK over the past 7 years counted down

It’s a common argument across the land – just how many new builds have shot up in your area in recent times, perhaps causing traffic havoc or putting a strain on local services.

But whereabouts in Britain are the most amount of new build homes really popping up – and is it the South East seeing the biggest surge of homes? 

A new report by the Royal Mail has revealed the answer. Topping the list with the highest percentage of new homes going up is Tower Hamlets, according to data from the Royal Mail and the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

It details the fastest growing areas for new build properties in Britain between 2010 and 2017.

The London Borough came top in a list of 20 areas that had the highest percentage of new builds, seeing a sizable 14 per cent leap over the last seven years.

The area is the second-most densely populated English district which may explain why there is such a demand for new build properties.

Tower Hamlets covers much of the East End of London including the Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf, Whitechapel and Bethnal Green. 

Many of the city’s tallest buildings are located in Tower Hamlets, including residential tower blocks.

It is also home to the Brownfields Estate, a housing development built in the 1960s, that has been a Grade II listed building since 1996. 

Royal Mail compiled the results after recent reports show an £866million investment in Britain’s new housing and a 52 per cent rise in construction output in Great Britain in the last five years. 

The data uses Centre for Economics and Business research. It calculated figures with different data drawn from the Valuation Office Agency, the Office of National Statistics and information from Royal Mail’s ‘Not Yet Built’ database, where new development plans are recorded.

Brownfields Estate is a housing development in Tower Hamlets, based in London’s East End

Corby’s Cube building that opened in 2010, home to Corby Borough Council offices as well as housing a 450-seat theatre, a public library and other community amenities

Corby came second on the list with a substantial 11 per cent increase in new builds. 

The town held the record for the fastest growing population in both Northamptonshire and the whole of England, according to figures released by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy at the start of the decade.

It also underwent a large regeneration process which included the regeneration of Corby railway station, and the creation of Corby International Pool as well as the Corby Cube building which opened in 2010.

With one of the fastest growing populations in the country, it is no surprise that more new builds are being built to accommodate the growing number of people living in the town.

Many of the towns and areas on the list are those that have welcomed new building and expansion, rather than the hotspots that people may want to move to most.

Aerial view: Cambridge University colleges by the River Cam and King’s College Chapel

Uttlesford, Essex, was voted as the best place to live in England, in a survey by the Sunday Times in 2001. It has also been polled as the healthiest place

The highly popular city of Cambridge came in third, again with an 11 per cent increase, as it now homes a new generation of people who are looking for a place to live with good transport links to London and other cities.

The famous University city also now has the second highest paying technology jobs in the country, bringing a new influx of people to the city to work – and has also has fast access to the ever growing Stansted Airport. 

In the district of Uttlesford, which came fourth, new housing increased by 11 per cent. 

Located in North Essex, it contains the market town of Saffron Walden – which was once voted as the best place to live in England, in the annual survey by the Sunday Times.

The Dartford Crossing: A major road crossing the River Thames in Kent to Thurrock in Essex

Aylesbury Vale is a large area of agricultural landscape in the north of Buckinghamshire

Fifth was Dartford, Kent, also with an 11 per cent rise. Situated close to the centre of London and with good transport links, Dartford is a popular choice for commuters.  

Aylesbury Vale was sixth with 11 per cent whilst South Norfolk, Vale of White Horse, Test Valley and Tewkesbury make up the bottom four of the list, all with a 10 per cent increase in new builds. 

The Royal Mail also revealed the top 20 fastest growing housing areas by number, with Cornwall topping the list with 17,450 new builds.

The booming tourist industry in the seaside county along with it remaining popular with retirees has helped develop demand for property by the coast. 

However, Cornwall is a unitary authority and it covers a much wider area than others in the list – so it is likely these properties are scattered across the entire county, rather than confined to a small space.

Next on the list was the first in the fastest growing by percentage, Tower Hamlets, with 14,500 additional properties being built. 

Third was Wiltshire, again a unitary authority, with 14,230 new properties.  

Vale of White Horse: The name was given due to the huge figure of a horse etched into the turf

The rest of the list again shows a wide geographical range of new build homes from County Durham to Central Bedfordshire. 

Annual construction output for homes has soared by more than 50 per cent in the last five years and trebled in the last twenty, according to figures. 

The Royal Mail’s ‘Not Yet Built’ database also shows that both the number of development plans applied for and the number completed in the last year have risen by 10 per cent and five per cent respectively.  

How flats now make up nearly a quarter of all homes 

The fastest growing type of new housing to be built in recent years is now flats. From 2012 to 2017, the number of flats across England & Wales increased by seven per cent. 

It means flats now account for 22 per cent of all British residential properties in 2017.

Unsurprisingly, most of the top 10 local authorities with the highest share of properties as flats are all in Greater London, with the exception of Birmingham. 

Tower Hamlets is top of the list again with 12,160 flats built in the past five years.

Hackney is next on the list with 8,440 flats being built with Greenwich closely following at third.  

An astonishing 98 per cent of residential properties in the City of London are flats.

Other cities do still feature highly, especially towns and cities on the South coast, such as Brighton & Hove and Bournemouth, where half of properties are flats. 

Test Valley is a borough in Hampshire, named after the valley of the River Test

Tewkesbury is a historic riverside town in Gloucestershire and is home to Tewkesbury Abbey

The North West, West Midlands, East, London, South East, South West and Yorkshire & the Humber are all areas in which flats were the most common type of residential property to be built in the last five years. 

The North East, East Midlands and Wales are the exceptions with detached houses the most common type of property being built in those areas. 

Detached houses saw growth of four per cent overall between 2012 and 2017.

The report also revealed the top ten local authorities with the largest percentage increase of flats in the past five years.

Cambridge tops the list with a rise of 23.8 per cent, demonstrating the growing demand from the public for new build apartments to be constructed.

Leicester came second with a sizable 18.5 per cent and Greenwich third with 16.4 per cent.  

Only two London authorities made the top ten, Greenwich and Newham, showing a marked difference between the percentage increases and the actual number of flats going up.