Infrastructure contract awards were hit the hardest, falling 71% to just £400m in April, the lowest month since May 2020, suggesting initial month-on-month momentum from recent government budget statements may be stalling, Barbour ABI said.
Residential contract awards fell 40% to £1.4bn as high interest rates continue to impact on the sector. Construction contract awards in the hotel and leisure sector fell by 54% to £200m. Overall, total contract awards were down from £7bn in March to £4.7bn.
Barbour ABI chief economist Tom Hall compared April figures to recent highs and lows experienced by the market. “We are seeing a see-sawing effect in 2023, potentially due to the industry’s uncertainties and constraints,” he said. “The start of the new financial year saw weaker activity across the board as uncertainty in the wider economy and construction continued. Time will tell whether this is a definitive turn for the worse in April or just another blip in the road.”
The value of planning approvals was also down by 50%, from £12bn in March 2023 to £5.9bn in April, according to Barbour ABI’s estimations.
“All sectors apart from industrial fell back to below-average levels with many large percentage falls,” Tom Hall said.
The value of planning applications, however, returned to ‘normal’ levels, up 30% in April from £9.1bn in March to £11.8bn in April. However, taken as a whole, the first quarter of 2023 saw planning applications down 22% compared to the previous quarter.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
