There isn’t much cheer for anyone looking for relief from sky-high house prices in London and the south east of England.
Housebuilding in the UK saw its biggest annual fall in more than two years, according to the latest data from the Office for National statistics.
Here are some of the details:
- In July 2015, output in the construction industry decreased by 1% on the previous month, after increasing by 0.9% in June. All new work decreased by 1.5% while repair and maintenance showed no growth.
- Public new housing, private new housing, public other new work and private commercial work decreased by 5.8%, 2.0%, 4.5% and 2.9% respectively.
Michael Dall from the Barbour ABI consultancy blamed the general election for leaving developers in an uncertain mood.
Construction new orders dipped slightly overall in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the previous quarter and this was primarily driven by a decline in new private housing orders and private commercial orders. A general slowdown in contract award activity in the housing sector can be attributed in part to the uncertainty surrounding the UK General Election where developers adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach for new schemes.
So is this just a temporary blip? Dall is forecasting “a positive outlook for the construction industry over the near term”.