The UK commercial building sector softened in July, falling to a three-month low

London skyline / Cheesegrater

Savills’ latest commercial development index has reported that commercial building activity softened in July, with the respective net balance falling to a three-month low of +14.3%, down from +22.2% for June.

This was due to work in the private sector easing, while growth in public commercial work remained unchanged, Savills said.

Savills data indicated that activity rose at weaker rates across eight of the nine commercial property sectors, with public new build where a contraction was recorded.

The fastest rising expansion was recorded in industrial/warehouse for the second consecutive month in the index with a net balance of 30.4%.

Simon Collett, head of head of building and project consultancy at Savills said: “With optimism continuing to improve we suspect the slower expansion in activity noted in July will be short-lived.”

A net balance of commercial developers forecast higher levels of activity over the next three months.

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