Government policy and foreign investors seeking a safe haven spurred a record amount of house registrations in London last year, according to new data by the National House Building Council (NHBC).
For the U.K. as a whole, home registrations increased by 28 percent in 2013 or 133,670 compared to the previous year. It marked the highest number of registrations since the economic downturn in 2007.
Gareth Cattermole | Getty Images
In the capital, 26,230 new homes were registered, a 60 percent increase on 2012 figures of 16,364, according to the NHBC report on Friday. This was the highest since electronic records began over 26 years ago, it said.
NHBC is a leading warranty and insurance provider and registrations are typically lodged with the organization shortly before work starts on a plot. NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said he had seen a genuine return of confidence to the industry as builders strive to meet the growing demand for new homes.
(Read More: Bubble trouble? Experts clash over UK housing)
"Government initiatives such as Help to Buy have also contributed to registrations increasing at their fastest rate since the downturn," he said in the press release.
The second stage of the "Help to Buy" home-buyers' program was launched in October, whereby the government will guarantee part of a home-buyer's mortgage on properties worth up to£600,000 ($918,000). The scheme joined the "Funding for Lending"scheme – overseen by the Bank of England – which aimed to encourage the U.K.'s banks to lend more for housing, but was later scrapped by the central bank.
