Contract awards drop by 14%
Most modern evaluate from constructing analysts Barbour ABI reveals sectors hit hardest were residential housebuilding down 14%, commercial dispositions down 15% and hotel and leisure falling by 29%. An absence of self belief on the market was additionally mirrored in capabilities for new constructing projects, which fell by 16% to below £100bn. Housing capabilities are
Most modern evaluate from constructing analysts Barbour ABI reveals sectors hit hardest were residential housebuilding down 14%, commercial dispositions down 15% and hotel and leisure falling by 29%.
An absence of self belief on the market was additionally mirrored in capabilities for new constructing projects, which fell by 16% to below £100bn. Housing capabilities are now 21% down on pre-pandemic ranges.
Barbour Consulting Economist Kelly Forrest said: “2023 was not easy for the UK constructing sector. Along with to viability challenges from elevated constructing charges and borrowing charges, consumers and enterprise self belief remained historical.
“2023’s staunch files experiences were largely confined to the overall public sector because the authorities’s flagship college and scientific institution constructing programmes at closing began to manufacture some momentum amid moderating charge inflation and mounting political tension.”
Barbour ABI discovered that training awards bounced support to £6.1bn in 2023, a 20% uplift compared with 2022, and a 19% amplify from 2019. Healthcare beat 2022 by 4% and is now 160% elevated than pre-pandemic ranges.
Forrest added: “General weakness hid pockets of buoyant sub-sector process. Vitality was a explicit shiny blueprint as investment poured into vitality from fracture and vitality storage services and products, along with offshore wind.
“In early 2024 there are a pair of reasons to be optimistic. Passion charges tend to non-public peaked and inflationary pressures non-public eased markedly. Coming into what is extraordinarily likely to be an election 300 and sixty five days there’s a threat there shall be a hiatus in public sector investment as key choices are postponed. The shuffle and resilience of the deepest sector restoration shall be pivotal.”
