While the ONS reports a 0.4% increase in monthly construction output for February, Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at the Building Cost Information Service, has raised concerns about the lack of growth over the past quarter.
He highlights that the goal of “getting Britain building again” appears to be falling short.
Monthly construction output is estimated to have grown by 0.4% in February 2025, following a fall of 0.3% in January 2025 (revised down from a fall of 0.2% in our previous publication). The rise in monthly output in February 2025 came from both new work and repair and maintenance, which grew by 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Construction output is estimated to have shown no growth in the three months to February 2025 compared with the three months to November 2024. New work increased by 1.2% over the period, whereas repair and maintenance fell by 1.5%.
Within new work, the largest positive contributor came from public other new work, which grew by 11.4%. In repair and maintenance, the largest negative contributor came from private housing repair and maintenance, which fell by 3.2%.
Dr Crosthwaite said: “Some good news for construction with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimating that monthly construction output increased by 0.4% in February to offset the decline of 0.3% in January. Growth was driven by increases in both new work (0.3%) and repair and maintenance (0.5%).
“At a sector level the only drivers of growth were public non-housing and public housing repair and maintenance. Most other sectors showed declining output through February.
“Of more concern is output has flatlined on a quarterly basis, with no growth evident in the three months to February. This hardly paints a picture of ‘getting Britain building again’.”
