The value of all construction contract awards in October 2019 was £4.9 billion based on a three-month rolling average, which is an increase of 4.1% on September, and an increase of 28.5% when compared with October 2018.
The number of contract awards increased by 22.4% in October to 864 which is also 4.0% higher than for October 2018. Although contract awards numbers have increased in October, they remain volatile with evidence of a downward trend for overall contract awards since January 2019. In the three-month period ending October 2019, the total value of contract awards was £14.5 billion, which is 14.0% lower than the previous quarter and 14.4% lower than for the comparable quarter ending October 2018.
The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain.
The residential sector accounted for 28% of all contract awards, closely followed by the industrial sector with a 22% share. The total contract awards value for the residential sector was £1.7 billion which is a decrease of 9.5% on September and is 12.5% lower than for October 2018. On the other hand, industrial contract awards values have increased by 39.9% on September with a total value of £735 million.
The largest value contract award for October 2019 was the Fawley Refinery Upgrades in Southampton – valued at £800 million, substantially boosting the figures for industrial sector.
Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, chief economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said: “The residential sector has experienced slightly slower activity throughout 2019, there has been a small pickup in London, but data shows that there is a cooling off in activity throughout the rest of the UK. The most recent help to buy data shows reduced volumes which would also support this view.”
