Construction sectors in UK showing signs of improvement
The total value of construction contract awards in July 2020 was £6.3 billion (€6.8 billion) which compares to £3.1 billion (€3.4 billion) in June and £1.6 billion (€1.75 billion) in May, underlining the magnitude of the growth trend over the past few months.
The number of awards has 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 and Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlighted levels of construction contract values awarded across the UK.
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%.
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.
Tom Hall, chief economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research, said: “While the economy entered a recession, the construction industry has seen significant increases in activity over the last two months. This could potentially be due to the restarting of activity that had stalled in previous months. A strong planning pipeline could suggest the industry will continue to strengthen but at what rate remains to be seen.”
The number of awards has 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 and Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlighted levels of construction contract values awarded across the UK.
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%.
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.
Tom Hall, chief economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research, said: “While the economy entered a recession, the construction industry has seen significant increases in activity over the last two months. This could potentially be due to the restarting of activity that had stalled in previous months. A strong planning pipeline could suggest the industry will continue to strengthen but at what rate remains to be seen.”
