In April 2015, output in the construction industry decreased by 0.8% compared with March 2015, after increasing by 1.4% in March. Repair and maintenance decreased by 4.8% while all new work increased by 1.6%.
Within the repair and maintenance (R&M) category, all work types reported decreases, notably non-housing R&M which fell by 7.2% and public housing R&M which fell by 6.2%.
Within all new work, new housing was the main contribution to the increase of 1.6% in April 2015 compared with March 2015, increasing by 5.4% with both public and private housing reporting increases.
Chris Temple, engineering and construction leader at PwC, said: “Despite these latest figures, we continue to expect the sector to show solid, healthy growth during 2015. In the run-up to the general election we saw a temporary slowdown in new orders. However, we don’t expect that this will be significant enough to counteract the upward trend of growth for the year, and there is still strong confidence in the sector for 2015 and beyond.
“There is a lack of large infrastructure projects at the moment, accounting for the lull in that part of the sector. Furthermore, uncertainty about the economy in Europe has knock-on effects for business confidence and the short-term order books of construction firms. But political certainty in the UK after the general election and further details on the government’s plans for most subsectors including infrastructure should give the sector more confidence.
“Construction firms will look to the government to give further clarity on its plans in the forthcoming Summer Budget. We’re confident that this temporary slowdown won’t become a longer-term trend, and our clients are optimistic for their growth prospects in the rest of 2015. Overall the picture for the construction sector remains healthy."
The second estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015 published on 28 May 2015 included an estimate of construction which showed a fall in output of 1.1% in quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015. This estimate has been revised within this release based on the incorporation of late data, new seasonal adjustment parameters and the introduction of an interim solution for deflators. Output is now estimated to have decreased by 0.2%.
This upward revision of growth of 0.9% provides an upwards revision of 0.1 percentage points (to 1 decimal place) to the growth rate of GDP.
Compared with April 2014, output in the construction industry increased by 1.5%. This is the 23rd consecutive month of year-on-year growth, however, this is the weakest year-on-year growth since November 2013.
New orders for the construction industry in quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015 were estimated to have increased by 0.4% compared with quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2014 and by 8.0% compared with quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2014. There were increases in infrastructure (18.6%), private industrial (6.1%), new housing (1.2%) and all other work (0.1%) in quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015.
The release for April 2015 has a revision period back to January 2014. Revisions in this release were caused by the incorporation of late data, new seasonal adjustment parameters and the introduction of an interim solution for deflators.