Buildings sector shows positive start to year
The buildings sector of the construction industry showed a strong start to the year, with the value of non-residential project starts on site in the three months to February being 13% ahead of the same period a year earlier, according to the Glenigan Index for February 2017. There was also a marked improvement in the social-housing sector, with the value of projects starts being 17% higher than a year earlier. In contrast, private residential starts were down by 8%.
The surge in non-residential projects is seen by Glenigan as suggesting that investor confidence is recovering from the heightened uncertainty seen in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum vote.
The industrial, office and hotel and leisure sectors all saw a marked improvement in the value of underlying project starts during the three months to February.
In addition, non-residential starts were boosted by increases in health and community amenity work.
