Glenigan reports increase in construction project starts
Construction project starts in the three months to February 2012 boosted the underlying year-on-year starts by 17%, according to data from construction industry analyst Glenigan. This is the eighth month in a row that year-on-year starts on site have increased, apart from a 1% fall in November 2011. The growth is primarily driven by civil engineer, with year-on-year starts up by 63% in February 2012, and residential, up by 30%. In contrast, non residential starts were down by 6%, a smaller fall than the previous month’s 15%.
The last four reports from Glenigan show a decline in non-residential starts on site, following four months of increase.
James Abraham, an economist with Glenigan, comments, ‘Glenigan forecast private-housing starts to remain buoyant over the coming months despite the increase being exaggerated by the impact of the severe winter of 2010/11 on project starts.
‘While industrial and office building has returned to growth, the sustainability of this growth depends on domestic and international economic prospects. Retail construction prospects, buoyed over the last two years by supermarket expansion, will shift as firms refurbish or extend current stores.
‘Private housing construction has recovered following the declines seen over 2011; however, the rate of growth wil be hampered by poor household earnings growth and potentially flat house prices.’
