2.2% increase amounts to roughly 21 million units, according to Brick Development Association
UK brick production is on track to match levels not seen for more than a decade after seeing a 2.2% rise in output in the first six months of 2019.
The increase amounts to roughly 21 million extra bricks being produced in the first half, year-on-year, according to the Brick Development Association (BDA)
The BDA said the UK was set to produce approximately two billion bricks in 2019, assuming the second half of the year saw similar output figures to the first six months.
Government figures published in June showed just over two billion bricks were produced in the UK last year. Two years ago the figure was 1.7 billion.
Noting recent housing statistics from the NHBC which showed a 12% increase in the number of new housing starts in the three months to the end of June, BDA marketing manager Tom Farmer said the need for new housing should see the sector remain resilient in the face of economic headwinds and the association’s members were continuing to invest.
But he said while the drive to build more homes was encouraging “manufacturers needed certainty to plough capital into new plant”.
The BDA said UK brick production was now approaching levels last seen in 2007, before the full effect of the financial crisis set in and regarded by some as a peak in post-war housebuilding activity.
It said the 2.2% increase in brick production volumes “precisely mirrors the increase in dispatches to site, indicating a focus on efficient stock control and product ordering that is one characteristic of an industry determined to reduce waste and improve flexibility”.
Last year the BDA pointed to a report by materials testing firm Exova Warringtonfire which confirmed that brick products had been classified as A1 non-combustible, the best achievable fire classification for construction products.
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