{"id":536845,"date":"2026-01-28T14:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T14:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=536845"},"modified":"2026-01-28T14:17:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T14:17:00","slug":"uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"everviz-T3oJKaDe4\" class=\"everviz-T3oJKaDe4\"><script src=\"https:\/\/app.everviz.com\/inject\/T3oJKaDe4\/?v=21\" defer=\"defer\"><\/script><\/div>\n<h3>Industrial overview<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year<\/li>\n<li>2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024<\/li>\n<li>37 per cent decrease in detailed planning approvals compared to 2024<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Although the sector faced geopolitical instability due to US tariffs, industrial starts had a strong performance in 2025. Project starts grew 31 per cent against 2024, with both major (\u00a3100m or more) and underlying (under \u00a3100m) starts up year-on-year. However, the pipeline weakened, with main contract awards down 2 per cent and detailed planning approvals 37 per cent lower than the previous year. Industrial project-starts, main contract awards and detailed planning approvals all suffered in the three months to December.<\/p>\n<h3>2026 outlook<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>12 per cent forecasted growth for project starts in 2026<\/li>\n<li>Higher consumer spending will boost demand for logistics and light industrial space<\/li>\n<li>\u00a31.4bn Cable Factory Hunterston development set to start this year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Types of projects started<\/h3>\n<p>In line with the overall strong performance of the sector, project starts grew in two out of three categories.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Manufacturing accounted for 59 per cent of industrial project starts, 31 per cent up on a year ago to total \u00a34.812bn<\/li>\n<li>Warehousing &amp; logistics grew 47 per cent year-on-year, totalling \u00a33.047bn, a 37 per cent share of the sector<\/li>\n<li>Totalling \u00a3362m, other industrial projects accounted for 4 per cent, a 33 per cent decrease<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Regional<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Regional performance in project starts was strong, with most regions up year-on-year<\/li>\n<li>Detailed planning approvals fell in most regions<\/li>\n<li>Yorkshire &amp; the Humber grew in both project starts and approvals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Wales accounted for 17 per cent of project starts, totalling \u00a31.373bn. The region grew more than 17 times on a year ago. Accounting for 14 per cent, starts in the South East also grew 30 per cent, totalling \u00a31.142bn. At \u00a3788m, Yorkshire &amp; the Humber grew 39 per cent against 2024. The East Midlands, on the other hand, fell 15 per cent on a year ago to total \u00a31.144bn.<\/p>\n<p>Yorkshire &amp; the Humber led detailed planning approvals, thanks to an 80 per cent increase compared to 2024, totalling \u00a31.101bn. In contrast, the South East decreased 24 per cent, totalling \u00a3986m. Consents fell 57 per cent in the North West, bringing the total down to \u00a3986m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in detailed planning approvals compared to 2024 Although the sector faced geopolitical instability due to US tariffs, industrial starts had a strong performance in 2025. Project starts grew 31 per cent &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":472163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74630,74652,74646],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cn-intelligence","category-industrial","category-sector"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Construction News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CN.community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T14:17:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CN Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CNplus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CNplus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CN Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CN Contributor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ad76189c9e50639a826a2a1049dd4977\"},\"headline\":\"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T14:17:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":343,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"CN Intelligence\",\"Industrial\",\"Sector\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\",\"name\":\"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial | Construction News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T14:17:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ad76189c9e50639a826a2a1049dd4977\"},\"description\":\"Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Construction News\",\"description\":\"Read UK Construction Industry News, Analysis, Opinion and data\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ad76189c9e50639a826a2a1049dd4977\",\"name\":\"CN Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/4459a1787866960f6b7327ced9ef282b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85e855d414d90661e402540ea1fe31f5f326f533565d30a336e9e247b54c427e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85e855d414d90661e402540ea1fe31f5f326f533565d30a336e9e247b54c427e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CN Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/author\/web-team-test-cron\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial | Construction News","description":"Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial","og_description":"Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/","og_site_name":"Construction News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CN.community","article_published_time":"2026-01-28T14:17:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg","width":620,"height":414,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"CN Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CNplus","twitter_site":"@CNplus","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CN Contributor","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"CN Contributor","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ad76189c9e50639a826a2a1049dd4977"},"headline":"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial","datePublished":"2026-01-28T14:17:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/"},"wordCount":343,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg","articleSection":["CN Intelligence","Industrial","Sector"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/","name":"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial | Construction News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-28T14:17:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ad76189c9e50639a826a2a1049dd4977"},"description":"Industrial overview 31 per cent increase in project starts year-on-year 2 per cent decrease in main contract awards from 2024 37 per cent decrease in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/01\/Industrial-building_factory.jpg","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/cn-intelligence\/uk-construction-activity-december-2025-industrial-28-01-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UK construction activity December 2025: Industrial"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/","name":"Construction News","description":"Read UK Construction Industry News, Analysis, Opinion and data","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ad76189c9e50639a826a2a1049dd4977","name":"CN Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/4459a1787866960f6b7327ced9ef282b","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85e855d414d90661e402540ea1fe31f5f326f533565d30a336e9e247b54c427e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85e855d414d90661e402540ea1fe31f5f326f533565d30a336e9e247b54c427e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CN Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/author\/web-team-test-cron\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536846,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536845\/revisions\/536846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}