NEW research from the Halifax shows that 10 years ago the average price of a new property in the UK was £70,518. Now it is £153,010.

The biggest rise in the average price of a new property has been in the South East where there has been a 166 per cent increase, exceeding the 154 per cent gains in Greater London and the South West. The smallest rise has been in Scotland which has seen an increase of 48 per cent.

At the same time new houses across the UK represented 8.3 per cent of all properties sold in 2001, lower than in any of the previous nine years. Typically, new houses represent approximately 11 per cent of all sales.

In England, there was a five per cent fall last year as the number of new homes built declined for the fourth successive year. If house building in England continues at last year’s level there will be a shortfall of more than 400,000 homes to cater for the additional three million households projected by the Government between now and 2021.

Moreover, there is a sharp north-south divide with an estimated deficit of more than 450,000 in London and the South East if house building remains at 2001 levels.

Detached homes are the most popular type of new house. Almost half of the new properties sold in the first three months of 2002 were detached houses.

This compares with just over a third 10 years ago. Nationally, new properties accounted for 25 per cent of all detached sales in the first quarter of this year, far exceeding the proportions of total terraced and semi-detached sales (both six per cent), bungalows (five per cent) and flats and maisonettes (13 per cent).

Flats are number one in London - while detached houses dominate the new homes market across most of the UK this is not the case in Greater London where the overwhelming majority of new properties are flats (nearly two thirds).

Martin Ellis, Halifax estate agents’ economist, said: “Despite the obvious popularity of new homes there has been a clear shortage of new properties available on the market over the past year, which has undoubtedly contributed to the recent rapid rise in house prices.”