Construction materials prices for All Work rose by 2.0% in the 12 months to January 2026, according to the latest provisional data published by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
New Housing recorded a 4.0% increase, Other New Work rose by 0.2%, and Repair and Maintenance increased by 3.7% when comparing January 2026 with January 2025.
Karl Horton, BCIS data services director, said: “Material prices continue to see annual growth after rising throughout 2025. Complete data for last year show that, based on an annual average, material prices for All Work in 2025 were more than double what they were two decades ago in 2005.
“Ongoing conflict in the Middle East and disruption to key shipping routes could introduce further inflationary pressure if volatility in the energy markets is sustained. However, due to a lag in DBT data, the extent of this impact will only become clear in a couple of months’ time once figures for March are available.’
Further, DBT data show that prices for electric water heaters saw the greatest annual inflation in the 12 months to January 2026, up by 6.9%. This was followed by a 6.6% rise in prices for gravel, sand, clays and kaolin – incl Aggregate Levy.
Prices for concrete reinforcing bars (steel) again saw the biggest annual decrease of all resources measured with a 6.6% fall.
On the month, taps and valves for sanitaryware experienced the greatest increase in annual price movement with a 3.5% rise.
The steepest decrease was a 1.5% fall in imported saw or planed wood.
Brick deliveries (seasonally adjusted) in Great Britain decreased by 2.5% in the 12 months to January 2026 but increased by 4.7% compared with the previous month.
Compared with five years ago, seasonally adjusted brick deliveries in January 2026 were down by 24.8% on January 2021.
Stocks of all types of bricks at the end of January 2026 stood at 547.7 million, up by 18.2% on the end of January 2025 (463.2 million) and by 76.6% on the level in January 2021 (310.2 million).
DBT’s report also showed concrete block deliveries (seasonally adjusted) in Great Britain were down by 5.7% in the year to January 2026 and by 1.1% on a monthly basis. Compared with January 2021, deliveries fell by 27.0%.
Total stocks of concrete blocks stood at 9.3 million square metres’ worth at the end of January, an increase of 39.3% on January 2025.
This was the highest level recorded since February 2024.
Elsewhere, DBT data going back to 2013 show a longer-term decline in annual ready-mixed concrete deliveries and sand and gravel sales (both seasonally adjusted).
In 2025, 11 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete were delivered in Great Britain – the lowest level in the published data.
Compared with 2024, this was a 10.1% annual decrease and a decline of almost one-third on deliveries in pre-pandemic 2019 and 2015.
Quarterly deliveries of ready-mixed concrete in 4Q2025 were the lowest on record, 2Q2020 excepted.
Meanwhile, annual sand and gravel sales hit a record low in 2025, down by 2.6% and 22.3% on the levels in 2024 and 2015 respectively.
conomic data from the Mineral Productions Association (MPA)(3) indicate that demand for core construction materials is weak with demand for key materials including concrete, aggregates and asphalt declining for the fourth consecutive year in 2025.
MPA insights also exposed a record 27% fall in annual materials sales volumes in the London market last year, including a notable downturn in demand for ready-mixed concrete.
“Data from both the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) highlight an alarming, long-term fall in demand for key construction materials,’ BCIS chief economist Dr David Crosthwaite said.
“Together, the data echo the deepening demand crisis in construction’s residential market. Developers are stuck. They face decision-making holdups at regulatory and government levels, reduced buyer appetite and high costs from levies and rising building costs. It’s a recipe we’ve seen the result of time and again in delayed starts, site closures and missed housing targets.
“The greater concern is the long-term damage to domestic supply chains and whether manufacturers will be able to weather demand stagnation. Further reductions in supply chain capacity could be disastrous for national housing and infrastructure targets.
“How swiftly and how well measures like the government’s renegotiation of Section 106 agreements answer the severity of demand pressures, are of the utmost importance.”
