Construction starts performed strongly during the three months to June and the previous year, whereas main contract awards and detailed planning approvals didn’t fare as well.
Averaging £9.25bn per month, work commencing on site during the three months to June experienced a mixed performance, decreasing by 13 per cent against the preceding three months but remaining 13 per cent higher than a year ago. Major project starts (worth £100m or more in value), averaging £4.59bn per month, decreased by 11 per cent against the preceding three months but rose by 91 per cent compared with the previous year. Underlying work (valued at less than £100m) starting on site averaged £4.66bn per month – a 2 per cent decrease against the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, to stand 19 per cent down on the previous year.
Main contract awards averaged £6.98bn per month – a 34 per cent decrease compared with the preceding three-month period, to stand 32 per cent lower than the same time a year ago. Underlying main contract awards, averaging £5.01bn, decreased by 16 per cent against the preceding three months (SA) and by 30 per cent against the previous year. Major project contract awards averaged £1.98bn per month – a 55 per cent fall compared with the preceding three months and a 38 per cent decrease against the previous year.
Detailed planning approvals, averaging £9.78bn per month, decreased by 19 per cent against the preceding three months, to have dropped 21 per cent against a year ago. Major project contract awards decreased by 43 per cent against the preceding three months and remained 40 per cent down on the previous year, to average £3.15bn per month. Underlying detailed planning approvals averaged £6.62bn per month, increasing by 1 per cent compared with the preceding three months (SA), but remaining 7 per cent down against the previous year.
