Following news that house building and house prices increased in Q1 of this year, it has been questioned as to whether a surge in house prices is a positive change for all.

The House Price Index revealed that UK house prices increased by 9.6 per cent in the year to March 2015 with prices paid by first-time buyers 7.8 per cent higher on average than in March 2014.

However, while house prices have risen, figures released by the NHBC have revealed more than 40,000 new homes were registered in the UK during Q1, an increase of 18 per cent on last year.

Of the 40,281 new homes registered, 30,691 were private sector while only 9,590 were public sector.

"Our figures show an encouraging start to 2015 with new housing registrations up 18 per cent on the first quarter of last year. Housing growth levels remain strong across virtually every part of the UK,” said NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton.

"However, we have made clear that the UK is still building way below the volumes of homes that we need. NHBC looks forward to working with government to ensure that high quality new housing is a top priority."

Post general election, David Cameron announced that Brandon Lewis would remain Housing Minister and Chief Executive Andy Knee of LMS, Legal Marketing Services, said he needed to address the property supply crisis.

“The agenda should also be about offering housing supply in the right places,” said Andy.

“The latest house price figures from the ONS show that prices in London, for example, have risen by 11.2 per cent compared to the national average of 9.6 per cent, an indication that more people want to live in the capital and that most buyers, first time buyers in particular, are being out-priced in the city and the East.

“When tackling supply it should be crucial that this is affordable and in the right place for those who need it.”

Head of Communications at Omni Capital, Robert Sturges, said the NHBC figures show, on an annual basis, we are still way short of the 220,000 new homes a year experts believe is required.

“Should this continue, the number crunchers will be reporting rises in house prices for some time to come. Great news if you're a homeowner; not so if you aspire to become one,” said Robert.

“The solution will be multi-faceted. The new government needs to focus less on populist schemes likely to drive up prices even further than on ways to build more homes more quickly. This requires more land and simpler planning rules. Both are in the gift of the authorities.

“Considerable acreage of brownfield sites is owned by the government and local authorities. Much could be released immediately for development. Attractive tax incentives could also be offered to free-up similar sites held in private hands (the big supermarkets alone are sitting on substantial banks of undeveloped land). Crucially, there needs to be an overhaul of our archaic and arcane planning rules. And, it must be said, a better way must be found to control immigration.”

“Existing homeowners might feel good about rising values, but the reasons behind them are not good for us as a whole.”