The fall in private new housing work, which dropped from 0.4% in August to -0.33% in September is a concern, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in response to the latest construction figures from the Office of National Statistics ONS.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB: “It’s worrying to see a contraction in new work for private housing.
“We know there are long term issues facing SME house builders, with output dropping over the years. Many exited the sector in the last recession and with another one looming as the economy contracts by 0.2% we need to avoid a repeat.
“The Government needs to act to get small house builders unstuck from the complex planning system and back to delivering high quality, diverse homes, using skilled local workers.
“The Autumn Statement provides an opportunity for the Government to ensure local planning authorities have the resources needed to speed up the planning system and help deliver the homes this country needs.”
Monthly construction output increased 0.4% in volume terms in September 2022, which is the third consecutive monthly growth following small upward revisions, to 0.6% in August 2022 and 0.2% in July; September 2022 shows the highest level of construction output (£15,125 million) since records began in January 2010.
The increase in monthly construction output in September 2022 came from increases seen in both new work (0.6%) and repair and maintenance (0.2%) on the month.
At the sector level, 5 out of the 9 sectors saw a rise in September 2022, with the main contributors to the monthly increase seen in public housing repair and maintenance and infrastructure new work, which increased 11.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
The level of construction output in September 2022 was 4.0% (£575 million) above the February 2020 pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level. New work was 0.3% (£29 million) below its February 2020 level, while repair and maintenance work was 12.0% (£604 million) above the February 2020 level
Alongside the monthly increase, construction output saw an increase of 0.6% in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2022, although this is the weakest quarterly growth since Quarter 3 2021 (1.1% fall); the increase came solely from growth in new work (2.4%) as repair and maintenance saw a decrease (2.2% fall).
Total construction new orders increased 6.4% (£774 million) in Quarter 3 2022 compared with Quarter 2 (Apr to Jun) 2022; this quarterly growth came mainly from private commercial new orders, which rose 27.7% (£832 million).
