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.
Commercial & Retail award value has increased by almost 100% to £1.2bn with two projects over £300m in London.
Education was up slightly on last month rising to £710m. There was a good spread of projects with only 18 above £10m.
Hotel, Leisure & Sport dipped by 12% to £730m with over half of the value coming from Haymarket House Apart Hotel in London.
Overall contract awards remain strong despite continued uncertainty in the economic environment. There are enough approvals in the pipeline to give some confidence in the short term, but the lack of recent applications could mean uncertainty in the longer term.
Despite the Government’s focus on planning reform to kick-start housebuilding, major developers continue to see viability as an issue with additional costs such as biodiversity net gain and other regulatory pressures.
There is a noticeable lack of big-ticket Government spending in Infrastructure, possibly held back by the forthcoming budget. Speculations on a focus on tax rises rather than additional Government spending announcements may suppress their ability to spend money on much needed infrastructure projects.
Medical & Healthcare had a high proportional increase in application value, rising 64% to £190m. The Llantrisant Health Park in South Wales accounts for £60m of this value.
Hotel, Leisure & Sport saw another increase in planning value, increasing 41% to £520m. The largest application in this sector is the £130m Nottingham Forest City Ground redevelopment.
Commercial & Retail remained strong in October with a 27% increase to £1.4bn. Almost half of this value came from the Redcar Bulk Terminal Data Centre in the North East.
Residential was the only sector this month to see a decrease in planning approvals. The sector dipped by 6% but remains high at £3.5bn. Edgbaston Street Gardens in the West Midlands was the highest Residential approval at £150m.
Both the East Midlands and Wales saw large proportional increases in approval value due to large Solar projects valued at £500m and £160m respectively.
Infrastructure saw the largest decrease of 77% to £1.2bn. The largest project in this sector was the £300m Canners Lane Energy Park in the East Midlands.
Commercial & Retail also took a large fall in application value dropping 54% to £560m.
Residential applications fell 16% in September with the largest project being the £116m Heyford Park Phase 2a mixed development in Oxfordshire.
Wales saw the highest increase in application value, rising 56% to £250m. Over one-fifth of this value came from the Central Square development in Cardiff.
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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