CIOB responds to UK construction output figures for October 2019

Today (Tuesday 10 December) the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the data on construction output for October 2019.

Official figures show that construction output has decreased slightly by -0.3% in the last three months to October. Compared to September, output has fallen by 2.3% - the largest fall since January 2018 (a 2.6% fall which was due to bad weather). There was a fall in the total number of new housing starts (-2% against 2.1% in September), particularly in private housing (-5% compared to 1% previously) and all new work dropped by -1.2% compared to 3.5%. Repair and maintenance work also decreased, but not as significantly (-3.8% in October, -5.1% in September). 

The figures are worth noting as they record the lowest monthly output in the sector since 2018. This could be due to the uncertainty of Brexit slowing the progress of developments and new projects. It will be interesting to compare these figures to those over the next few months, following the formation of a new government and with the UK set to leave the EU on 31 January 2020. 

Caroline Gumble, Chief Executive at the CIOB, commented: “It’s interesting to look at these figures and note that there is something of a slowdown, although that’s not a huge surprise given the current political environment. As the CIOB has said in our manifesto, we need to see a pipeline of well-planned projects and support for sector jobs across the UK. These should be among the priorities for the next government for this important sector.”