Flurry of contract wins make region UK’s top performer
- Value of underlying project-starts for private housing in North-West grows by 143% within one year (less than £100 million in value)
- Value of underlying community and amenity project-starts up 324% on 2020 and 389% on 2019 figures
- North-West infrastructure is also performing well, with value of underlying project-starts up by 87% on 2020 figures and 136% on two years ago
- Region is only area of the country to experience growth on the preceding three months and was the best performing region against 2020 figures.
Today, Glenigan, the construction industry’s leading insight and intelligence experts, releases the September edition of its Construction Index.
Offering a detailed and comprehensive analysis of year-on-year construction data, the report has been designed with built environment professionals in mind, presenting them with unique insights from the third quarter of 2021 and the last twelve months.
North-West bucks the trend
Despite project starts declining consistently across the board, a slowing rate suggests an upward trajectory is due towards the end of the year. One region showing particular promise is the North-West, with the highest value of underlying project-starts in the country (less than £100 million in value). Up 58% on the same time in 2020 and 13% on 2019.
The region was also the only area of the country to experience growth on the preceding three months and was the best performing region against 2020 figures.
Residential rouses hope
There are a number of reasons to remain optimistic, particularly in the residential sector, where the value of work starting on-site increased by over a quarter (26%) compared with the same time last year. However, this is down by a similar amount (23%) compared to 2019.
Housing-wise, the North-West is also showing strong resolve, with underlying-project starts for private housing up 143% on 2020 figures and increasing 36% on the same time period in 2019.
Nationally, private housing work starting on-site also climbed by nearly a third against last year (29%), however this was down by 28% compared with the preceding three months.
Social housing project-starts also rose by nearly a fifth (18%) on 2020 figures and 8% on the previous three months.
Strong results for hotel and health
The hotel and leisure sector also performed well with project-starts rising by over a half (52%) compared with the same time last year. Additionally, it was the only sector to achieve growth against the preceding three months with the exception of social housing.
The value of underlying-project starts (less than £100 million in value) for the North-West hotel and leisure sector also continued this trend, increasing by around two thirds (65%) on the same time period last year and 37% on figures two years ago.
Overall, health was the stand-out non-residential sector of the period, increasing 9% against the past three months and up 3% on the previous year. In addition, health starts were up 89% compared with the same period in 2019.
Retail project-starts also saw an increase of 55% compared with the previous year and was up by 15% on the same period in 2019. However, the sector did experience a 30% drop on value of the preceding three months.
North-West avoid infrastructure slump
Average UK infrastructure project-starts experienced a down turn, dropping by nearly a half (48%) against the past three months and standing 22% lower than 2020 levels. However, for the North-West, the value of underlying-project starts (less than £100 million in value) rose by 87% on 2020 figures and 136% on the same time two years ago.
Rhys Gadsby, Glenigan’s Economic Analyst, commented on the latest figures. “Although project-starts have consistently declined across most regions and sectors over the last five months, they’ve largely remained up on the previous year. This is particularly true of regions such as the North-West that are bucking the trend completely and experiencing promising growth. As the only area of the country to see growth on the past three months, it’s in a strong position to weather the storm of declining project starts which other areas of the country have seen.”
