Construction Building Positive Signs Of Improvement

A graph showing building output in July

The magnitude of the growth in construction over the last two months has been exemplified by contract awards in July 2020 worth £6.3 billion which compares to £3.1 billion in June and £1.6 billion in May.

The number of awards also increased in July to 860 which is an increase of 80.3% on June. The residential and infrastructure sectors accounted for over 50% share of total contract awards.

The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain.

Every sector had at least 33% growth in July, compared to June, with up to 98% growth in certain sectors.

The residential sector contract awards increased by 65.9% on June. Infrastructure climbed 75.4% and education contract awards increased by 43.5%.

 

Regions

London was the leading region in July accounting for 18.5% of awards. The second largest region was Scotland with attributable share of 17.1% and was followed by the South-East with a 12.8% share of awards.

 

 “While the economy entered a recession, the construction industry has seen significant increases in activity over the last two months.”

– Tom Hall 

Chief Economist, Barbour ABI and AMA Research

 

Prospects

"The increased activity could potentially be due to the restarting of activity that had stalled in previous months," continues Hall. "A strong planning pipeline could suggest the industry will continue to strengthen but at what rate remains to be seen.”

To download the full report - Click Here

 

Picture: This graph shows that residential contract awards are higher than any other sector for July 2020.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
26th August 2020

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