Demand for new build homes has outpaced resale across the UK in the last two years, contrasting with the three years prior, according to the latest statistics from property data provider, TwentyCi.
In 2024, new build demand grew by 24%, compared with just 17% for resale homes, and while demand growth slowed across the wider market during the second half of 2025, new builds have maintained a clear lead. In October 2025, year-on-year new build demand was still over 80% higher, versus just 3% growth for resale, which TwentyCi says highlights the sector’s resilience in an uncertain economy.
In 2025, new build properties achieved prices on average equating to 95% of their initial advertised value. While the percentage of initial asking price achieved for new build properties decreased in 2025 compared with 2024, the reduction was just 1.2%. On the resales market in 2025, sold prices equated to 89% of the initial asking price.
Price premiums remain significant. In 2025, new build houses carried an average premium of 8.2%, equating to £36,900, while new build flats commanded a premium of 61%, or £221,700. This substantial flat premium reflects the concentration of new build flats in areas undergoing regeneration and gentrification.
New house premiums are strongest in Inner London, at 58% higher than resale, while the South West observed the lowest premium of only 6.2% higher than resales in the same location. New flat premiums are highest in Scotland at 128%, and lowest in Outer London, at 24%.
Importantly, resold new homes show strong value retention. Of the new build properties sold for the first time since 2019 and then resold within a two-year period, 91% of properties sold for more than they were first purchased for (with an average uplift of 7.1%), with only 9% selling for less.
In terms of property types, terraced and semi-detached properties are the most liquid based on likelihood to sell, with 64% of advertised properties resulting in a sale, while flats are least likely to sell at 44%, and detached properties less likely at 48%.
Time to sell, based on first sale agreed, is also showing improvement. Since January 2019, it takes, on average, 38 days longer to get a sale agreed on a new build property than a resale property. In November 2025, however, the gap has narrowed; it currently takes an additional 30 days to sell a new build property.
TwentyCi’s research has shown that rural locations have been driving sales of new build homes, with demand increasing by 44% over the last 12 months, far exceeding both urban new build demand (24%) and rural resale growth (19%). Accessible rural locations are more likely than remote areas (by 54%). Location is more likely to be in the East Midlands and North, and unlikely to be in London or the South.
New build demand continues to be driven by first-time buyers and higher-income buyers, while purchases are significantly less likely by last-time sellers. Single 18-25s and 26-35s are 58% more likely to buy a new build home, while 18-25-year-old families are 143% more likely.
In terms of annual income, households earning £70k-£100k are 76% more likely to choose a new build home.
Julia Price, account director new build & digital at TwentyCi, commented: “In 2026, the UK’s housebuilders continue to face substantial economic and regulatory pressures, resulting from stagnant growth, political turbulence and an ever-challenging planning environment. Yet against this backdrop, the new build housing market is proving remarkably resilient. Growth in demand and prices achieved against advertised value have outperformed the resales market, the former for two years running, even while new build price premiums are at an average of 11%. What’s more, challenging perceptions and in good news for the first buyers, those new build properties that are resold in the short term are holding strongly onto their value. The data indicates that despite headwinds, the new build market is showing fundamental signs of strength and reasons for optimism.”
