Residential construction up 15% on last year

The latest edition of  Barbour ABI’s Economic and construction market review revealed residential construction accounted for £2.7bn on the month, the highest recorded figure since Barbour ABI began tracking the series and up 15% on the same month last year. 

Commercial and retail building reached £785m in August, a monthly increase of 47%.

Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “The construction sector can once again be thankful for the strong showing of the residential sector, which provided £1.8bn more than any other sector in August, along with an increase of 55% compared with August 2016.”

“It is encouraging to see the number of projects increasing steadily, particularly the larger projects from the commercial and retail sector. However a lack of investment in infrastructure across August and for the most part of 2017 is not encouraging, as we haven’t seen many major projects come to fruition, especially after it was highlighted as a government priority earlier in the year.”