Midlands review

The midlands as a whole seems to have improved compared to last January. As seen by Chart 1. January 2017 has improved in nearly every sector by the amount of projects starting on site. This can be seen in more detail in Chart 2. which shows the percentage change between the two over each sector. The two main sectors that have improved dramatically is utilities and private housing which clearly shows a need for these two sectors above all in the Midlands. Currently we are in a housing crisis with not many options tailored to suit everyone’s needs i.e. first time buyers. With the private housing sector rising by 78% this hopes to change things for the better. One reason for the 100% rise in utilities is coincidentally private housing. This is due to more housing developments being built the more utilities such as water, sewers, power etc. need to be created. Another reason is just an increase in workload for both the east and west Midlands. In contrast, the amount of detailed planning approvals has dropped by -41% overall when comparing January 2016 to January 2017. The biggest fall in planning approvals was the utilities sector at 77%, followed by the retail and hotel & leisure sectors both at 57%. Whereas community & amenity did not change at all. The amount of projects that have been put on hold has reduced compared to the same month a year ago. January 2016 had 750 projects on hold yet January 2017 has only 179 on hold, which is a positive decrease of -76%. Community & amenity was the highest difference between the two months. At -93% there is far less projects that have been put on hold, indicating that developers are having less difficulty with funding or other factors that are getting them to start on site. On the other hand to on hold there are projects that are classed as no longer on hold. These projects have been placed on hold but now are ready to go ahead. A slight decrease of -2% compared to last January. Overall, the midlands has improved considerably compared to this time last year. The amount of projects starting on site is 16% which shows very good growth, collectively with the amount of projects on hold, the midlands has definitely improved.