Construction output rose slightly in September due to a strong market for repair and maintenance work.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that monthly output rose by 0.4% in volume in September, with a 2.1% increase in repair and maintenance activity only partially offset by a decline of 0.8% of new works.
The biggest growth area was repair and maintenance in the private housing market, which grew by 3 percent.
The boost in activity was enough to increase output from July to September by 0.1 percent, compared with the previous quarter.
Total new building orders rose by 3.9 per cent (£393m) in the third quarter of the year, mainly due to non-housing public works, which rose by almost quarter, and infrastructure, which increased by more than 14 percent. one hundred.
New home orders rose 0.8%, and the private and public housing sectors saw increases of 0.9% and 0.1% respectively.
The annual rate of growth in construction and manufacturing prices was 3.9% in the 12 months to September, which represents a slowdown from the record annual price growth of 10.4% seen in May of 2022.
Fraser Johns, chief financial officer at Beard Construction, said the fact that new work fell in September despite a quarterly rise in new orders showed how unpredictable and volatile the industry was in the current climate.
The importance of new infrastructure and non-housing public works, particularly schools and universities, was reflected in Beard’s order book, for which regional and national frameworks are an important source of work and a driver of pipeline activity.
“The education sector remains a dynamic market for Beard, with on-site starts in primary, secondary and higher education in recent months,” he said.
“News of an increase in housing orders will certainly be encouraging for those contractors who rely on the housing market, although the sector still faces real challenges in sustaining interest. [rate] natural environment.”
The reliance on repair and maintenance work for the September lift showed that the appetite to commit to new building projects was still clearly dampened, Johns added.
“As a result, the message remains the same: we must remain open and transparent in our conversations with customers and stakeholders, while doing everything we can to minimize pressure on cost plans,” he said.
