Latest News Wed, Dec 11, 2019 3:23 PM
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released the data on construction output for October 2019.
Official figures show that construction output has decreased slightly by -0.3% in the last three months to October.
Compared to September, output has fallen by 2.3% - the largest fall since January 2018 (a 2.6% fall which was due to bad weather).
There was a fall in the total number of new housing starts (-2% against 2.1% in September), particularly in private housing (-5% compared to 1% previously) and all new work dropped by -1.2% compared to 3.5%. Repair and maintenance work also decreased, but not as significantly (-3.8% in October, -5.1% in September).
The figures are worth noting as they record the lowest monthly output in the sector since 2018. This could be due to the uncertainty of Brexit slowing the progress of developments and new projects.
The CIOB says it will be interesting to compare these figures to those over the next few months, following the formation of a new government and with the UK set to leave the EU on 31 January 2020.
Caroline Gumble, Chief Executive at the CIOB, commented: “It’s interesting to look at these figures and note that there is something of a slowdown, although that’s not a huge surprise given the current political environment.
"As the CIOB has said in our manifesto, we need to see a pipeline of well-planned projects and support for sector jobs across the UK. These should be among the priorities for the next government for this important sector.”
The largest fall in monthly construction growth for almost two years demonstrates the urgent need for the next government to invest in construction skills to support UK builders, says the Federation of Master Builders.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “The new government must hit the ground running and invest to upskill builders if we’re to meet the construction needs of the next decade, including responding to the climate emergency.
"(This) 2.3% fall in construction growth shows the ongoing damaging chilling effect of political and economic uncertainty on builders’ workload.”
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