Construction sector showing no obvious negative Brexit effect

Now that the first three months of post-Brexit figures are available it has become clear the Brexit has not had any prolonged effect. The latest figures show that construction sector contracts across September reached a total of £5.6 billion, which is a minor increase on August, and all signs indicate that the industry seems to have stabilised.

According to the October edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, the residential sector played a prominent role in stabilising construction figures across September. With the government pushing for more housing to be built and ambitious targets set, over £1.7 billion of residential contracts were agreed to on the month, a year on year increase of 12%.

Another sector that performed well this past month was the hotel, leisure & sport industry, with construction contracts value worth over £500 million, a massive 99% higher than a year ago. This was helped greatly by the commissioning of the Aberdeen exhibition and conference development worth £330 million. The sector’s improved performance will be received favourably after a fairly stagnant year.

The most disappointing sector over the month was infrastructure, which was down by a substantial 44.5% compared to September 2015. Additionally if it wasn’t for the £657 million M4 smart motorway scheme in Berkshire, then this figure would be much lower.

Commenting on the figures, Michael Dall, Lead Economist at Barbour ABI, said: “Overall, the construction sector has so far been robust enough to stave off the potential effects from the shock Brexit vote and has kept contract values at a healthy level, helped significantly by residential projects and the often wavering infrastructure sector.”

“A welcome boost for the industry would be an increase in contract values from other sectors outside of residential & infrastructure, such as commercial & retail, which had its poorest month in September since May 2015.”