Construction Market Industry Trends
With
Glenigan you can track construction industry trends across 12
regions and 11 sectors, helping you win new contracts and stay
ahead of the competition. Our analysis is based upon
robust data-driven models, not opinion. Use Glenigan to help
you find opportunities in new regions and sectors.
Below is a snapshot of the trends you can monitor with Glenigan.
This data is updated every month to ensure you make the right
strategic decisions to keep your business heading in the right
direction.
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Prospects mixed as reduced Government funding bites
The Glenigan Index for August was 6% down on a year ago. A much
diminished flow of government funding, particularly for education
and social housing projects, reduced the overall level of
construction starts in the three months to August. In addition the
growth in private housing starts has stalled and positive growth
from other parts of the private sector has been in insufficient to
make up for the lack of publicly funded project starts.
Chart 1: Glenigan Index Against this weak national picture,
there are few bright spots across the different regions. The East
Midlands was the highest performing region, the only to experience
double figure growth. The East and North West of England saw the
largest falls in the value of project starts over the last three
months.
Nationally, the country has seen a slight downturn in private
housing projects starts over the three months to August. This
follows just under a year of sustained growth. In addition, the
value of underlying new social housing projects has again fallen
sharply, being 30% down on a year ago in the three months to
August. The shrinking pool of new work comes as the increases in
government funding for projects during the last financial year are
reversed, and a recovery is not expected within the next two years.
This has left the Residential Index for August 14% down on a year
ago. Whilst social housing starts are likely to remain under
pressure over the coming months, a return to growth in private
housing starts is anticipated at the end of the year as
housebuilders capitalise on gradually improving market conditions
and last winter’s poor flow of new work is bettered.
The Non-Residential Index for August is 9% down on a year ago.
The underlying value of retail starts has been growing over the
last six months, fuelled by increased construction activity by the
major supermarkets chains. Hotel & leisure and industrial
project starts have also increased, however office starts have
continued to fall. Additionally, while community & amenity,
health and education have suffered amid reductions in government,
community & amenity and health projects managed marginal
increases over the three months to August. In contrast, education
project starts are becoming increasingly scarce following the
demise of the Building Schools for the future programme.
The Civil Engineering Index for August was 22% up on a year ago
and this area has been an important source of new work over the
past three months. The growth rate was bolstered by a particularly
high level of project starts in June for both infrastructure and
utility projects. Spending on rail projects has been a key to the
growth in the underlying value of project starts over the last five
months.