Construction output in mainland Britain fell by 0.2% in the three months to February 2020, compared with the previous three-month period. While there was a 0.6% growth in new work, this was offset by a 1.7% fall in repair & maintenance output.
The rise in new work in the three months to February 2020 was driven by growth in infrastructure and public other new work, which grew by 2.8% and 4.5% respectively; no other new work sectors saw growth. The fall in repair & maintenance was driven by a 5.6% fall in private housing repair and maintenance.
In February itself, construction output fell by 1.7% compared to January, dipping to £13,522m. This is the largest fall in monthly growth since October 2019 when it fell 2.4%.
February’s decline was driven by a 3.4% fall in new work, which more than offset 1.7% growth in repair and maintenance.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) economists suggest that this is likely to have been due to the bad weather seen during February 2020 – it was the wettest February since records began in 1862.
As the data was collected before 29th February, the coronavirus is unlikely to have had much impact on these numbers.
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