A monthly snapshot of the UK construction industry covering contract awards, planning approvals, and applications by sector, featuring expert commentary and detailed data visualisations.
Contract awards fell 21% to £5.7bn in April, the lowest month since May last year.
Commercial & Retail fell 64% to a dismal £320m after a relatively strong start to the year. Only one award was above £50m, the £100m Latos Preston Farm Data Centre in the North East.
Education awards fell 13% to £580m. This value sits just above the 2025 average. The £89m Coopers Company and Coburn School was the highest award in the sector. This is the third time since the start of 2025 that Education has sat above Commercial & Retail, suggesting more confidence from the public sector than the private sector.
Hotel, Leisure & Sport is the only sector to see a month-on-month rise, increasing 54% to £760m. Over half of this value comes from the £440m Grafton Street & New Bond Street Redevelopment.
Construction awards in April 2026 reflected a market that remains active at the planning stage but increasingly selective at delivery, with total awards easing back and possibly signalling a structural slowdown. Public and institutionally backed sectors notably Infrastructure, Energy and Education continued to underpin volumes, reinforcing a defensively positioned pipeline.
In contrast, private Residential and Commercial schemes showed greater caution as developers reassessed timing, cost risk and financing assumptions.
Wider construction conditions remain challenging. Cost volatility re‑emerged as geopolitical disruption from the Iran conflict and instability in global energy markets fed directly through into fuel, materials and logistics costs. Renewed inflationary pressure has reduced expectations of a fall in interest rate, sustaining pressure on margins and capital allocation decisions. As a result, the industry is operating as a two‑speed market, where strategic, long‑term and publicly funded projects continue to progress, while speculative and highly leveraged schemes advance more slowly.
Overall, April awards suggest caution for the rest of the year with many downside risks. Government intervention to boost demand or reduce the cost burden it has placed on the construction industry would be needed to see a brighter outcome.
Approvals activity remained elevated in April, dipping 9% to £10.7bn, but sustaining the strong momentum established across Q1.
Activity was again underpinned by Infrastructure and Residential, with a notable skew toward very large scale energy and retrofit projects, reinforcing the market’s structural shift toward long-term, capital-intensive investment.
Infrastructure fell 46% to £2.1bn from a particularly strong base. The month was headlined by the £800m Springwell Solar Farm and Battery Storage project in the East Midlands. This was complemented by a further wave of battery energy storage systems, solar farms, hydrogen facilities and grid‑linked schemes, typically ranging between £50m–£250m, confirming sustained acceleration in the UK’s energy transition pipeline.
Residential approvals remained highly active by value dipping 13% to £4bn. This value came from a smaller volume of projects than the previous month but more individual projects of high value.
Commercial & Retail approvals have recovered 79% to £1.5bn from last month’s dip that followed a particularly strong start to the year. Led by large-scale refurbishment and retrofit activity, particularly in London. Major approvals such as Euston Tower (£600m), Eden Dock at Canary Wharf (£126m) and multiple office-led redevelopment schemes highlight continued occupier-led demand for high‑quality, energy‑efficient stock rather than new‑build expansion.
Education approvals have returned the strength of earlier in the year reaching £500m in April. There are 14 approvals over £10m with the largest being the £84m Helena Romanes School – School Rebuilding Programme in the East of England.
Yorks & Humber failed to continue its success of last month with approval value dipping 184%. A lot of infrastructure projects show the regions focus and ultimately reliance on this kind of work. The largest approval in this region was the £75m Leeds United Stadium Expansion.
Applications across all sectors totalled £8bn in March 2026, a 19% increase from February and marking a clear rebound following the early‑year lull. This upswing is still short of 2025 averages.
Residential again formed the backbone of activity, contributing £3.6bn, up 13% month‑on‑month and matching the Q1 2025 average. The sector remains structurally robust, underpinned by a steady flow of large housing schemes alongside smaller suburban and infill developments.
Commercial & Retail recorded a particularly strong month, rising sharply to £1.67bn, a 137% increase compared with February. This marks a decisive recovery following earlier volatility and points to an influx of larger schemes entering the system.
Infrastructure strengthened to £1.25bn, up 37% month‑on‑month, maintaining its position as a major contributor to total application value. The uplift reflects continued progression of energy generation and utilities schemes.
Medical & Healthcare increased to £200m, a 66% rise from February, albeit from a relatively low base. As seen historically, the sector continues to display pronounced month‑to‑month volatility, reflecting the episodic nature of large hospital redevelopments and specialist facilities.
The North West continues to see a positive trend of applications reaching £1.7bn, 56% up month on month from an already strong base. £1bn of this value comes from Mix Manchester – Shop And Mixed Developments.
A monthly snapshot of the UK construction industry covering contract awards, planning approvals, and applications by sector, featuring expert commentary and detailed data visualizations.
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The Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot acts as a leading indicator of current and future activity in the construction industry. All values provided are at current prices, expressed in £bn unless stated otherwise and are non-seasonally adjusted.
The RSI is an index that measures current activity levels relative to
the last 5 years. It is presented on a scale of 0-100, where:
● 0 is no activity,
● 100 is the maximum possible activity, and
● 50 is the average level of activity.
The sectors that are included in the Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot are:
Our January edition of the snapshot features a review of the construction industry in 2025. This edition contains even more insight on the industry’s performance, including additional expert commentary, comprehensive data tables and concise visualisations.
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