New private housing construction dropped by 59.2 per cent in April, the third consecutive month of decline and hit the lowest level since records began in 2010, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown.
The index of new private housing work dropped to 42.8 in April with a total value of £1.84bn. This is down from an index of 45.2 a decade ago in January 2010, when output was at its previous lowest.
According to ONS figures, the index has not fallen below 100 since July 2016.
April’s output was also significantly down on March’s index of 104.9, illustrating the impact of the coronavirus crisis and subsequent lockdown.
The private housing sector was the main contributor to the 41.2 per cent record decline in construction output across all sectors during the month. Since January, new work on private housing has fallen by 65 per cent.
Clive Docwra, managing director of construction consulting and design agency McBains, said: “Particular concerns are private new housing work seeing a third consecutive month of large decline, exacerbated by the Covid-19 lockdown in April and now at its lowest level for a decade – bad news for the industry but also for prospective homeowners given the housing shortage.
“Hopefully today’s figures will represent the nadir given they cover the full month of lockdown, but while many large construction firms are now resuming work, many will still be weakened by reduced order pipelines over the next few months.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
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