Housebuilding work falls 5% in October

Housing output in October slipped to its lowest monthly level since June last year, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics.

The official data showed that £3.4bn of private and public housebuilding work was undertaken in October, down from £3.52bn in September. That equates to a drop of 3.4% in overall output, including within it a nearly 5% drop in private housing output.

The housing construction figures formed part of overall construction data which showed the largest month-on-month fall in output for around two years, with £13.3bn of work carried out, down 2.3%.

In the housing sector a steep drop in private housing work was partially made up for by growth in public-sector work, up to £562m from £540m the previous month.

Gareth Belsham, director of the national property consultancy and surveyors Naismiths, said: “Such an abrupt fall in new work is particularly worrying, and suggests contractors simply don’t have enough new jobs to replace completed projects.

“Warning lights have also come on in the residential sector. Housebuilders have long been the standard-bearers for the construction industry as a whole, but even they saw output slide badly in the three months to the end of October.”

Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, said the industry had been spiralling towards a recession due to political uncertainty sparked by the Brexit issue. He added: “A lack of clarity over immigration and trade policies, as well as ongoing economic uncertainty, has forced construction bosses across the country to pause existing projects and hold off on making decisions on new work, which is evident through the large falls in repairs and maintenance, infrastructure projects and private housebuilding revealed today.”