The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has reported that construction output fell 2.0% in April 2021 following a particularly strong increase in March (5.8%): output now stands above its pre-pandemic February level. New work continues to be subdued but the level or repair and maintenance is stronger.
Monthly construction fell by 2.0% in April 2021 because of declines in both new work (2.9%) and repair and maintenance (0.6%).
The level of construction output in April 2021 remains 0.3% above the February 2020 pre-pandemic level despite the monthly fall; while new work was 3.4% below the February 2020 level, repair and maintenance work remains 7.1% above the February 2020 level.
In contrast to the monthly fall, construction output grew by 5.1% in the three months to April 2021 compared with the previous three-month period, because of a 5.2% increase in new work and 4.9% increase in repair and maintenance.
The increase in new work (5.2%) in the three months to April 2021 was because of growth in all new work sectors apart from private industrial, which fell by 3.6%; the largest contributor to this growth was private commercial new work, which grew by 7.4%.
The increase in repair and maintenance (4.9%) in the three months to April 2021 was because of growth in non-housing and private housing repair and maintenance, which grew by 6.2% and 6.6% respectively.
These findings are verified by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which reveals that the 2.0% fall in construction output in April 2021 represents a fall of £290 million in monetary terms compared with March 2021, which was the first monthly fall in output since December 2020 when it fell £291 million (2.2%).
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