Projects on hold remaining high into February

Last Updated:

18th March 2013

Glenigan data shows that the value of underlying projects being placed on hold remained high in February, having increased by 1.6% to £762m, compared to £750m in January 2013. Compared to last year the value of projects being placed on hold is up by 20% for the three months to February this year. The increase in projects on hold is consistent with Glenigan’s starts data, which has shown a marked slowdown in industry activity compared to the first two months of 2012.

Chart 1: Value of Projects on Hold

Main Story Graph

The civil engineering sector saw a significant increase in projects on hold in February; utilities projects saw the largest increase of any sector in the latest data the value of such projects jumping from £4m in January to £203m in February. Infrastructure projects being placed on hold also saw a large increase from £2m in January to £78m in February.

The private housing sector which accounted for the greatest proportion of new projects placed on hold in the January data saw the value of projects on hold fall to £132m in February down from £259m in January.

Several other sectors also saw reductions in the total values of their projects on hold, hotel & leisure projects on hold increased from £91m in January to £64m. Office and commercial projects on hold fell from £96m to £51m, education projects fell from £43m to £25m, social housing from £48m to £16m. The industrial and health sectors remained relatively unchanged in the total values of their projects on hold, whilst retail projects rose from £90m to £120m in February.

While overall projects on hold increased in February the majority of the gains were concentrated in the civils sectors; utilities and infrastructure. Most other sectors saw the value of projects on hold fall from January, the particularly bad weather in the first month of the year is a possible explanation for the increase. The civils sector has raised some red flags in the opening months of 2013, Glenigan data on project starts showed that new activity was well below levels recorded at the start of last year. The jump in projects on hold in February does little to belay fears that further declines in activity are on the horizon.