Construction Contracts Continue To Climb

A building site

There has been a bumper month for construction contract awards as the total value reached £9.1 billion in April. Contract awards increased by 58% compared to March - a level of activity that was last seen in January 2020.

The information is contained in the latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI. It looks at construction contract values awarded across Great Britain.

 

Residential

Residential contract awards were £2.5 billion, up from £2.0 billion in March. Infrastructure hit £2.1 billion and the industrial sector achieved the second highest monthly value on record of £1.2 billion - driven once again by warehousing.

 

 “Building on the improvements in the planning environment we reported in March, April saw a bumper month for contract awards.”

– Tom Hall 

Chief economist, Barbour ABI and AMA Research

 

Pipeline

"All sectors, apart from healthcare, saw sizeable monthly increases to well above their long-term average values, particularly the infrastructure and commercial sectors," adds Hall. "A year on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic we have finally seen a value that starts to recover some of the lost ground. However, a fall in April’s planning approvals back to previous levels seen over the second half of 2020 may demonstrate that the uncertainty plaguing the sector has not fully cleared. We require a sustained increase over a period of time to fill the weak construction pipeline.”

To download the full report - Click Here

 

Picture: Construction is booming in all sectors.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
27th May 2021

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