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Construction contracts up 12% with London leading the way

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  • 21/07/2017
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Construction contracts up 12% with London leading the way
London led the country with 26% of construction contracts agreed in June, driven by the North Quay Poplar and Heron Quays West developments.

After a torrid month in May for construction, figures began to move in the right direction across June, with contract awards increasing by 12%, as a number of high-profile projects got the green light.

Data from analysts Barbour ABI showed construction contract values awarded in June totalled £5.5bn based on a three-month rolling average, up £4.9bn from May. This was greatly helped by the North Quay Poplar development contract award, worth £800m, the largest project across all of construction on the month.

Residential building produced the highest value on the month, reaching £2.5bn, bouncing back after a dip in May when it decreased to £1.7bn. Four of the top ten biggest projects in June came from the residential sector.

Looking at construction in June across the UK regions outside of London, the dominance continued across southern England with the South East in second place for construction contract value with £713m awarded, followed by the South West in joint third place with the North West, each tied at £627m.

Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “The construction sector bounced back after an election-focused month in May, as the residential sector once again performed strongly, continuing the trend of it holding the construction sector steady.

“With the Government’s increasing focus on raising the levels of major infrastructure projects, it’s surprising to see a lack of development in this sector across June. The anticipation however, is that we will see larger public sector contracts come to the forefront, such as offshore wind farms, energy plants and motorway upgrades as we continue into 2017.”

The Federation of Master Builders was cheered by the Tories’ loss of majority at the last election, which it said would relieve ‘pressure’ on migrant workers.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said the hung Parliament result had left key business sectors nervous, with the construction industry vulnerable to dips in consumer confidence.

Last month, FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “Theresa May stood on a hard Brexit platform and she has clearly not been given a mandate to approach the negotiations in this way. Brexit is inevitable but the election result will surely have a significant impact on the shape of the Brexit deal we end up with.”

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