Glenigan Index reveals rising project starts
The Glenigan Index for May shows a 10% increase in project starts for the previous three months compared to the same period a year earlier. The increase is primarily due to robust growth in the private housing, hotel and leisure and utilities sectors.
The strongest growth was a 31% increase in project starts for the hotel and leisure sectors. Office starts were up by 14%, and there was a 8% growth in industrial starts. Private residential activity increased by 21%. The retail sector fell by 2%, but Glenigan believes that this stall in growth is temporary and the drivers of the sector remain strong.
A 17% increase in new education developments was sufficient to offset falls in the weaker public-sector areas of health, and community and amenity.
The picture of growth remains positive across much of the UK, with rising activity across the southern English regions, Wales and Scotland.
Allan Wilén, economics director at Glenigan, comments, ‘Private house builders are continuing to open up new sites in response to the improving housing market conditions, and we anticipate further expansion following the extension of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme out to 2020.’
