Key Statistics: 4 March 2014

Construction

• The Glenigan Index for February was 10% higher than a year ago, driven by continued rises in new infrastructure and private non-residential starts. Growth in non-residential project starts was fuelled by strength in the office and hotel and leisure sectors. There was a slight decline in new residential starts as declining social housing activity offset growth in private housing.
• The HBF New Housing Pipeline Q4 2013, produced by Glenigan, showed that the final quarter of 2013 saw the highest number of residential unit approvals since Q1 2008. Overall 58,700 residential units were approved in the UK in Q4 2013, up 18% compared to Q3 2013 and 13% compared to Q4 2012.
• There was a 26% year on year rise in new home registrations in the three months to January 2014 compared to the same three months of 2012/13. 22,244 private sector registrations were made, up 23% on a year before, with 9,238 public sector registrations, a rise of 33%. Separate figures released by DCLG showed that there were 1,950 legal housing completions under the Help to Buy equity loan scheme in January 2014, taking the cumulative total to 14,823 completions since last April.

Economy

• Business Investment rose strongly in Q4 2013, up 2.4% on the previous quarter and 8.5% on the final quarter of 2012, according to the ONS. Gross fixed capital formation into new buildings and structures (excluding dwellings) increased by 2.5% relative to Q3 2013 and by 7.9% compared to Q4 2012. 
• The GfK consumer confidence index stayed at -7 in February, unchanged from January which saw the highest level since September 2007. A survey from YouGov found that inflation expectations eased to their lowest level since early 2010, falling in February to 2.2% over the next 12 months. 
• The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI recorded 56.9 in February, up slightly from 56.6 in January. The survey indicated the fastest rate of job creation since May 2011. A separate survey by EEF, a manufacturing association, reported that one in six UK manufacturers are ‘re-shoring’ production from places such as China and Eastern Europe, citing better quality of production, but the survey didn’t question whether companies were moving production abroad.