New data shows that homeowners across the country are turning to solar panels and insulation upgrades to combat high energy costs. According to the new analysis of planning applications by Barbour ABI, the number of planning applications citing insulation has more than doubled since 2019, and those citing solar panels
In April 2021, contract awards increased by 58% compared to March to £9.1 billion. This level of activity was last seen in January 2020. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Sector
The value of all construction contract awards in 2020 was £57.0 billion. Despite the challenges 2020 brought, this represents a slight decrease of 4.7% on 2019. Contract award values held steady in 2020, but the number of contract awards declined by just under 16%. The latest edition of the Economic
ISG took this month’s top spot in the contractor league tables after being appointed the contractor for seven major projects totalling just under £2.7 billion. Almost all this amount is due to work on a new £2.6 billion electric battery plant in Blyth, Northumberland. In second position this month with
Galliford Try Construction took this month’s top spot in the contractor league tables after being appointed the contractor for eight major projects totalling just under £343 million. Projects include the Perceval House redevelopment in London and a replacement railway station for Perry Barr. New entrant, Bouygues Group occupy second position
The total value of construction contract awards in September 2020 was £5.4 billion based on a three-month rolling average. This is 21.2% higher than for August and is also 13.8% higher than September 2019. Quarterly analysis indicates that total construction contract awards were valued at £13.5 billion in Q3 2020.
Costain Group took this month’s top spot in the contractor league tables after being appointed the contractor for two major road projects. A new SMART motorway on the M62 at Brighouse and widening works on the A1 in Newcastle- upon-Tyne with a combined value of £575 million. In the runners
The total value of construction contract awards in July 2020 was £6.3 billion which compares to £3.1 billion in June and £1.6 billion in May, underlining the magnitude of the growth trend for contract awards over the last two months. The number of awards has also increased in July to
New data shows that homeowners across the country are turning to solar panels and insulation upgrades to combat high energy costs. According to the new analysis of planning applications by Barbour ABI, the number of planning applications citing insulation has more than doubled since 2019, and those citing solar panels have risen threefold. Not only is this saving money on heating, but evidence suggests energy efficiency upgrades are now increasing house values, even as the housing market struggles. This trend follows the disruption of the pandemic, which had previously led to a surge in home improvement in 2019 and 2020, as homeowners spent savings on improving outside space and reconfiguring internal space to make way for home working. Barbour ABI Chief Economist, Tom Hall said: “The latest data reveals the exceptional impact on the home-improvement market created by an extraordinary series of economic and social disruptions. Covid saw home improvement applications boom as people looked to extensions, home office improvements and garden upgrades to improve home working conditions – activity has fallen over the last year but overall numbers remain above the pre-pandemic trend. “The surge in solar panel installations and the rapid rise in insulation work suggests that the cost savings from reduced energy bills and increasing evidence of an energy efficiency premium is now tempting for better-off homeowners.” Meanwhile, the pressure on the UK to meet its net zero targets is likely to grow, prompting the use of incentives or regulation to encourage reluctant owners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, so we expect this trend to continue.” St Albans in the home improvement capital of Great Britain St Albans in Hertfordshire has topped the league for the most home improvement planning applications in the UK. Looking at the hottest spots for home improvement, the Top 25 table shows that districts in London’s commuter belt dominate. The East of England and Southeast regions each fill nine slots on the table, with London taking five. The remaining two places in the top 25 are taken by Uttlesford, near Stansted in Essex, and Cotswold, in Gloucestershire. The Top 5 districts include St Albans, Three Rivers, Elmbridge, South Cambridgeshire and Epping Forest. Falloff in home improvement applications But whilst the sharp rise in the cost of living may have prompted many households in better-off communities to invest, the same pressures are restricting spending in poorer areas. All regions saw a sharp drop of 19% from a peak of planning applications in 2021, but it’s districts in the north of Britain filling out the bottom of the league whilst the Northeast is the hardest hit region, dropping 26%. Hall continued: “There can be little doubt that the home-improvement market will suffer as the economy weakens and the cost-of-living crisis bites deeper into the pockets of households. But counter to this, the case for investment in improvements that reduce the cost of running a home is increasingly making sense for those who still have money to invest in their properties. “However, there is evidence to suggest the benefits will not be felt evenly throughout Great Britain. Less-well-off areas will struggle to fund upgrades of any sort in the current economic climate, leaving them at the mercy of energy markets.” Barbour ABI’s full report will be available at www.Barbour-abi.com Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
In April 2021, contract awards increased by 58% compared to March to £9.1 billion. This level of activity was last seen in January 2020. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Sector analysis shows that residential contract awards increase again in April to £2.5 billion, up from £2.0 billion in March. A strong performance for infrastructure, with total value of contract awards reaching £2.1 billion, the first monthly value over £2.0 billion since January 2020. And the industrial sector activity sees the second highest monthly value on record of £1.2 billion in April, driven once again by warehousing. Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “Building on the improvements in the planning environment we reported in March, April saw a bumper month for contract awards of £9.1bn. This is the highest value since January last year. All sectors apart from healthcare saw sizeable monthly increases to well above their long-term average values, particularly the infrastructure and commercial sectors. A year on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic we have finally seen a value that starts to recover some of the lost ground. However, a fall in April’s planning approvals back to previous levels seen over the second half of 2020 may demonstrate that the uncertainty plaguing the sector has not fully cleared. We require a sustained increase over a period of time to fill the weak construction pipeline.” Download the full report here: https://www.barbour-abi.com/zones/2103032-Snap-Analysis-May-Output-File-v2.pdf
The value of all construction contract awards in 2020 was £57.0 billion. Despite the challenges 2020 brought, this represents a slight decrease of 4.7% on 2019. Contract award values held steady in 2020, but the number of contract awards declined by just under 16%. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Certain sectors in 2020 experienced strong growth whilst others felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The infrastructure sector contract awards in 2020 were valued at £14.5 billion, an increase of 40% on 2019. A large increase in utilities and civil engineering projects contributed to the total, increasing by 61% and 54% respectively. The hotel, leisure and sport sector contract awards for 2020 was £3.1 billion which is a decline of 43% compared to 2019. This was largely due to a fall in arenas & stadia, and audience & exhibition centres, falling by 68% and 63% respectively. However, most significantly the medical & healthcare sector saw an increase of 62% in 2020 compared to 2019 with a total value of contract awards at £2.0 billion. Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “The total value of contract awards only fell by 5% in 2020, thanks to an extremely strong start to the year and a moderate recovery after the first nationwide lockdown. It’s a complete turnaround where activity is happening compared to 2019, which was dominated by the residential and leisure sectors. In 2020 it has been the healthcare and infrastructure sectors that maintained activity. We expect the same over the first period of 2021, at least until the Covid-19 situation improves and the uncertainty clears.” Download the full report here: http://ubm.io/2FRLrwm
ISG took this month’s top spot in the contractor league tables after being appointed the contractor for seven major projects totalling just under £2.7 billion. Almost all this amount is due to work on a new £2.6 billion electric battery plant in Blyth, Northumberland. In second position this month with just one project is Future Valleys, who are working on a £513 million dualling project on the A465 in Wales. Up 16 places from last month, Wilmott Dixon round off the top three with seven projects totalling £170 million including extension works to a community hospital and construction of a 318-flat building in Bristol. The latest edition of the Top 50 League Tables published by industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights the number and value of construction contracts awarded during December. This month shows that the combined value of contracts awarded to the Top 50 was just over £5.5 billion with a total of 128 projects. For December, Kier Construction were the busiest contractor with a total of eight contract awards at a combined value of £116 million. ISG sit at the top of the rolling 12-month league table with 59 projects at a total value of £3.3 billion. Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI & AMA Research said, “2020 ended with a strong December value of £5.5bn. However, £2.6bn was the Gigavolt EV battery plant in Northumberland; underlying activity remains somewhat weaker than average. Over the beginning of 2021, uncertainty remains as the UK suffers under another Covid-19 wave and concerns arise over the newly erected EU trade barriers. Positively, construction activity should be relatively unaffected by the third national lockdown.” Download the full report here: https://www.barbour-abi.com/market-intelligence/top-50-league-tables/
Galliford Try Construction took this month’s top spot in the contractor league tables after being appointed the contractor for eight major projects totalling just under £343 million. Projects include the Perceval House redevelopment in London and a replacement railway station for Perry Barr. New entrant, Bouygues Group occupy second position this month with two awards totalling £230 million. In third place is another new entrant, CA Blackwell Contracts with a £175 million new coal mine project in Whitehaven. The latest edition of the Top 50 League Tables published by industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights the number and value of construction contracts awarded during October. This month shows that the combined value of contracts awarded to the Top 50 was just over £2.9 billion with a total of 144 projects. For October, Morgan Sindall were the busiest contractor with a total of 17 contract awards at a combined value of £128 million. Bowmer & Kirkland sit at the top of the rolling 12-month league table with 42 projects at a total value of £804 million. Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI & AMA Research said, “As we are entering into a second lockdown, construction has been highlighted as an industry that will continue to remain open along with manufacturing and essential services. This will hopefully result in activity levels continuing to recover from the first lockdown.” Download the full report here: https://ubm.io/2WBolhM
The total value of construction contract awards in September 2020 was £5.4 billion based on a three-month rolling average. This is 21.2% higher than for August and is also 13.8% higher than September 2019. Quarterly analysis indicates that total construction contract awards were valued at £13.5 billion in Q3 2020. This is 47.1% higher than Q2 but is 8.4% lower than for Q3 2019. Raw monthly data has seen significant uplift in September to £6.0 billion which is an increase of 52.5% on the £3.9 billion in August. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Analysis by sector indicates that residential maintained lead status in September accounting for 32.8% of awards. Infrastructure was the second largest sector in September with attributable share of 20.8% of awards. The commercial & retail sector was the third largest this month accruing 16.1% of the total. Regional analysis shows that London was the leading region in September with 22.6% of awards. The second largest region was the East of England with 13.7% of awards and was followed by the West Midlands which accounted for 11.0% of awards. Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “After 3 months of recovering activity, contract awards over July-September returned to pre-Covid 19 average levels. Given the size of the shock to the construction industry and the wider economy that is cause for celebration. However, these numbers will contain an element of catch-up from the lost activity in April-June, so underlying activity is likely to be somewhat weaker than the headline numbers. The recovery so far has been evident more in the public and infrastructure sectors, with the commercially minded sectors remaining slightly subdued. With significant uncertainties remaining it will be interesting to see how the situation evolves over the coming months” Download the full report here: http://ubm.io/2FRLrwm
Costain Group took this month’s top spot in the contractor league tables after being appointed the contractor for two major road projects. A new SMART motorway on the M62 at Brighouse and widening works on the A1 in Newcastle- upon-Tyne with a combined value of £575 million. In the runners up spot this month is Bowmer & Kirkland with eight awards totalling £138 million. A new primary and secondary academy in Enfield provided £45 million of the total. The scheme is part of the Government Free School Initiative and will provide education facilities for over 2,000 children. The latest edition of the Top 50 League Tables published by industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights the number and value of construction contracts awarded during August. This month shows that the combined value of contracts awarded to the Top 50 was just over £2.6 billion with a total of 130 projects. For August, Kier Construction were the busiest contractor with a total of 14 contract awards at a combined value of £108 million. BAM Construction sit at the top of the rolling 12-month league table with 51 projects at a total value of £1.9 billion. Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI & AMA Research said, “The value of contracts picked up by top contractors fell back in August to £2.6bn from £3.9bn in July. This fits with our expectation of subdued activity due to the uncertainty caused by the possibilities of subsequent outbreaks of Covid-19, a disruptive Brexit and a wider economic slowdown. However, the construction market is retaining some momentum after the slump during lockdown, and there are new projects coming through, although at lower levels compared to before Coronavirus.” Download the full report here: https://ubm.io/2WBolhM
The total value of construction contract awards in July 2020 was £6.3 billion which compares to £3.1 billion in June and £1.6 billion in May, underlining the magnitude of the growth trend for contract awards over the last two months. The number of awards has also increased in July to 860 which is an increase of 80.3% on June. The residential and infrastructure sectors accounted for over 50% share of total contract awards. The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. Every sector had at least 33% growth in July, compared to June, with up to 98% growth in certain sectors. The residential sector contract awards increased by 65.9% on June, Infrastructure climbed 75.4% and education contract awards increased by 43.5%. London was the leading region in July accounting for 18.5% of awards. The second largest region was Scotland with attributable share of 17.1% and was followed by the South East with a 12.8% share of awards. Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “While the economy entered a recession, the construction industry has seen significant increases in activity over the last two months. This could potentially be due to the restarting of activity that had stalled in previous months. A strong planning pipeline could suggest the industry will continue to strengthen but at what rate remains to be seen.” Download the full report here: http://ubm.io/2FRLrwm
