Mild weather sees construction return to growth in February

Construction output reversed its decline in February as improved weather conditions allowed contractors to get more work done.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, output grew by 2.4% in volume terms across the month, following a 1.7% fall in January.

The rise was driven by increases in output for both repair and maintenance work (4.5%) and new work (1.1%).

Beard Construction director Mike Hedges said: “While it’s encouraging to see a marginal increase in new work, we shouldn’t be surprised to see repair and maintenance continuing to lead the recovery effort. This could in part reflect customers being wary about committing to large new-build construction projects but could also reflect the emerging direction of trying to maximise value from existing assets, reducing waste and preserving embodied carbon.”

Across the three months to February, output grew 0.9%, the sixth period of consecutive growth in the three-month-on-three-month series.

The main contributors to growth in this period were non-housing repair and maintenance (5.5%) and infrastructure new work (2.8%) although new private housing fell 4.4% over the three months, despite growing by 2% in February.

But familiar warnings about inflation and labour shortages were flagged while last month’s wet weather is set to put the brakes on growth, added Clive Docwra, the managing director of property and construction consultancy McBains, as sites struggled to cope with the wettest March since 1983.

Across the broader economy, UK growth was stagnant in February with public sector strikes offsetting a recovery in consumer spending.