As the established trade association and training body for the safety netting and temporary safety systems industry, FASET aims to always keep up to date with the latest news from the building access industry. We are pleased to share the following story from the Construction Leadership Council, which is good news for the construction industry.
Monthly construction output is estimated to have increased 0.2% in volume terms in March 2023; this came from an increase in new work (0.7%), partially offset by a decrease in repair and maintenance (0.6% fall) on the month.
This followed a growth in construction output of 2.6% in February 2023 (revised up from a 2.4% growth in ther previous publication).
At the sector level, four out of the nine sectors saw a rise in March 2023, with the main contributors to the monthly increase seen in infrastructure new work and public other new work, which increased 2.2% (£51 million) and 6.5% (£48 million), respectively.
Quarterly construction output increased 0.7% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2023 compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2022; the increase came solely from a rise in repair and maintenance (4.9%), as new work saw a decrease of 1.9%.
Total construction new orders decreased 12.4% (£1,571 million) in Quarter 1 2023 compared with Quarter 4 2022; this quarterly fall came mainly from private commercial and private housing new orders, which fell 22.3% (£773 million) and 18.4% (£607 million), respectively.
The annual rate of construction output price growth was 8.5% in the 12 months to March 2023; this has slowed slightly from the record annual price growth found in May and June 2022 (10.4%).
Read the full DBT construction dashboard here.
Download the ONS Construction update here.