Data

The UK saw a drop in the amount of bricks, gravel and cement blocks being sold in June, according to government data. Just 9,974,000 tonnes of sand and gravel were sold in the second quarter of 2025, according to seasonally adjusted numbers published by the Department for Business and Trade.…

New planning applications have proposed almost 70,000 new homes across England in the second quarter of 2025 – up by a third year on year.  From April to the end of June, 232,692 applications were submitted to Planning Portals around England, according to TerraQuest, which says 95 per cent of…

The UK construction sector has undergone a “considerable slump”, with figures showing that July saw the sharpest downturn in activity since May 2020 – the height of the Covid pandemic. S&P Global’s latest UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released this morning (6 August), showed an activity rating of 44.3…

The number of construction firms in significant distress has jumped by 14 per cent in the past year, according to figures from Begbies Traynor. The insolvency specialist’s latest Red Flag report notes that 102,285 construction businesses faced “significant” distress at the end of the second quarter (Q2) this year, compared…

A mixed-use-tower job near London’s British Museum has sent Bovis Construction soaring to the summit of the latest monthly contractor league table. The firm won a £220m contract from clients Lab Selkirk House and LabTech Investments to build a 19-storey tower at One Museum Street, according to data intelligence provider Glenigan.…

300,000 The expected shortfall below the government’s target to have 1.5 million new homes built by the end of the decade, based on Homes England’s latest figures for starts and completions. David Crosthwaite, chief economist at the Building Cost Information Service, said: “The target was always unrealistic given that the…

Contractors are increasingly rejecting tenders due to concerns over risk, according to Gleeds.  The consultancy said that 97 per cent of the contractors surveyed for its latest UK Construction Market Report had declined tenders in the second quarter of 2025 – an increase from the 75 per cent in the…

A flurry of construction starts in the residential sector is helping drive industry confidence, according to latest figures. Housing starts jumped 76 per cent in the three months to the end of June compared with the first quarter, according to Glenigan. Private housing starts leapt by 95 per cent in…

Business optimism among contractors has hit a two-and-a-half-year low amid a fall in workloads and “fragile” client confidence, according to a survey. The latest S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index found that new orders fell in June for the sixth successive month, with the rate of decline accelerating compared…

Construction output in Northern Ireland fell by 5.1 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the latest official statistics show. The decline follows a 15-year high recorded in the final quarter of 2024, when the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) recorded an activity index of 120.…