Private housebuilding activity slides in March

Private new housebuilding activity fell by 5.1% in March compared with the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

However, the ONS said that the relatively smaller public housing sector witnessed growth of 8.6% over the same period.

The fall in private housebuilding new work piled on the pressure for the housebuilding sector, which fell overall by 1.8% in March, while a 4.2% dip in infrastructure and a near 3% decrease in public other new work were also factors.

A bright spot was the figure for the first quarter, which saw total construction output increase by 1%, driven by a 2.9% rise in repair and maintenance activity.

The ONS said this rose on the back of both private housing and non-housing repair and maintenance work, which increased by 4% and 3.5% respectively.

Total new work for the first three months of 2019 remained static, a situation described as the result of “a toxic mix of indecisiveness and uncertainty around Brexit, material costs and the limited availability of skilled labour”, according to Mark Robinson, chief executive at framework group Scape.

“We need to see strong leadership from our elected officials, giving our business leaders confidence in the economy and the country’s ability to deliver new homes and infrastructure,” Robinson added.

Blane Perrotton, managing director of consultant Naismiths, said: “While it is tempting to interpret the paltry quarterly uptick as a cause for celebration, it is likely the result of developers trying to get projects over the line before Britain was due to leave the EU on 29 March.

“The 0% growth in new projects is far more revealing of the sector’s endemic issues.”

Perrotton said it was almost certain that the construction sector would stay in a “state of hibernation as [the prime minister] grapples for a deal in the run-up to Halloween”.