Commenting on construction figures published by the ONS today, which show that output increased by 2.1% in the third quarter of 2018, Clive Docwra, Managing Director of leading construction consulting and design agency McBains, said:
“Today’s figures are encouraging and show that the industry is building some momentum – with three-month on three-month growth recorded again”
“However, issues such as Brexit and the high cost of imported materials are still hanging over the sector and holding back key investment decisions.
“Recruitment is also a growing issue, with wages of scarce skilled tradespeople continuing to rise and the future status of EU-workers in the UK still unclear beyond March 2019.”
Today’s ONS figures show:
- Construction output continued to recover following a relatively weak start to the year, increasing by 2.1% in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2018; this follows a fall of 1.6% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2018 and an increase of 0.8% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2018.
- Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2018 was driven by all new work which increased by 2.8%, and repair and maintenance which increased by 1.0%.
- Construction output increased by 1.7% between August and September 2018, this was driven by an increase in all new work which increased by 2.8%; this was partly offset by a fall of 0.3% in repair and maintenance.
- The level of the all work series for September 2018 reached £13,995 million – a record high since the monthly records began in January 2010.
- Construction output increased by £872 million in Quarter 3 2018 compared with Quarter 2 2018. The most notable contribution to growth came from private housing new work, which increased by £507 million between Quarter 2 2018 and
- Quarter 3 2018. In addition, other notable calendar quarter growth came from non-housing repair and maintenance and infrastructure, increasing by £230 million and £191 million respectively.
- The most notable increases came from infrastructure and public housing new work, which increased by £125 million and £81 million respectively in September 2018. These increases more than offset the notable decreases in the month-on-month growth in private housing repair and maintenance and private industrial new work, which decreased by £45 million and £23 million respectively.
