A monthly snapshot of the UK construction industry covering contract awards, planning approvals, and applications by sector, featuring expert commentary and detailed data visualisations.
Previously available as a downloadable PDF, our Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot is now published directly on our website. This change makes the report easier to access, share, and revisit — no downloads or subscriptions required.
Accessible anytime, the Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot offers a more seamless and interactive experience – keeping you closely connected to the insights that matter most.
After a poor few months Medical & Healthcare rockets to £800m increasing 423% from April. However, almost all of this value comes from the Monklands Hospital Replacement Project in Scotland.
Industrial was the only other sector to increase from April, jumping 14% to £780m. The highest value project for this sector was the £200m research and digitisation centre at the Natural History Museum in London.
Commercial & Retail proportionally dipped the most in May, falling 68% to £290m. This is the lowest value in over a year. One highlight from this sector is the awarding of 6 different Lidl food stores.
A disappointing month for contract awards as continued economic uncertainty and regulatory issues see a multitude of schemes delayed. However, the pipeline remains relatively strong provided these issues can be overcome in the second half of the year although strong activity may be delayed until 2026. Potential growth points are expected to be in green energy as well as data centres driven by the ever-increasing focus on AI. These areas continue to push the demand for transmission Infrastructure. Further hopes for Infrastructure should come to the subdued transport sector with the Chancellor’s announcement of a £15bn investment, mostly focused in the North of England.
Industrial had a positive month at £1.1bn, up 18% on the 2024 average and 53% on April 2025. The £420m Frasers Group – Global Headquarters Campus development helped boost the sector.
Residential saw a significant rise in May to £3.2bn, seeing it level with the 2024 average. The top 5 residential projects, all above £100m, were in London and the South East.
Medical & Healthcare dropped again after a more positive April. The sector dropped 56% from the previous move and sits 79% down on the 2024 average.
Infrastructure dipped from a particularly high April to £2.4bn and still sits 36% above the 2024 average. The top approval in this sector is a 400MW wind farm in East Yorkshire. The South West saw a 67% increase on April and a 54% increase on the 2024 average with a good spread of projects across the sectors. However, over a quarter of this value came from a single office development.
Much of this decrease is due to two large projects in Infrastructure and Medical & Healthcare that came in at the end of March. However, all sectors have been subdued this month.
Commercial & Retail remained strong after a positive March with almost half the months value coming from the £350m Snowfields Quarter Redevelopment in London.
Education dipped to its lowest month in over a year with the largest project being a mixed development at Mead Fields in the South West.
The North East rebounds from a poor March with a good number of residential projects and some battery storage.
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 2024. 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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