Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot by Barbour ABI

A monthly snapshot of the UK construction industry covering contract awards, planning approvals, and applications by sector, featuring expert commentary and detailed data visualisations.

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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.

Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot - July Edition⬇️

Contract Awards

Contract Awards bounce back from a poor May to £6.8bn with growth in all sectors but Medical & Healthcare.

Education recovered from the lowest value month in over a year and a half to reach £510m. A £95m campus at South Tyneside College topped the list of high value Education projects in June.

Commercial & Retail has strengthened after a weak May but not quite reached the highs of February and January. The £300m Tech City – Old Street Tower Office development in London along with a £100m Scottish office refurbishment for Lloyds banking group and new offices in the North West for the MOD have helped bolster the sector to £710m.

Infrastructure grew 125% from May to £2.2bn, the highest since February this year. The awarded pipeline for June is made up of a good number of high value projects and not, as is often the case, a small number of high value projects.

It has largely been a strong month for Contract Awards with the majority of sectors showing growth. There is some hope for the future of high rise residential developments with responsibility for the Building Safety Regulator being brought in house, where it will be governed by government MCHLG. This will help with the aim of speeding up the process of all the stalled developments. Barbour ABI data has shown projects delayed by up to 9 months, likely due to the BSA. Additional hope in the Residential sector comes from the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement of a £39bn investment plan aiming to deliver 300k social homes. However, targets and delivery are two separate things and it is yet to be seen whether the UK has the capacity to build these homes.

Contract Award Monthly Value by Sector (£bn)

Region Share of Award Value by Sector (%)

Monthly Highlights

  • Medical & Healthcare is the only sector in decline, falling 79% after a particularly strong May to £170m. The largest project in the sector is the £33m district heat network connection at Milton Keynes University Hospital.
  • Industrial increases 26% to £990m from an already strong position. A £408m National Biosecurity Centre in the South East contributed a large proportion of this value.
  • Residential increases just 5% from the previous month to £1.75bn and fails to reach the average value for 2024. The £125m student accommodation, flats & commercial development Chalk Farm Road toped the list of residential projects.
  • The North East had a very strong month in June increasing to an unprecedented £500m of Awards with large projects across Education, Infrastructure and Residential sectors.
  • Scotland dipped 7%, after a strong £1bn month in May, to £930m but still sits well above the 2025 average. Scotland, as expected, is supported by an array of green energy Infrastructure projects.

Planning Approvals

Overall planning approval value increase in June by 34% to £10.92bn. A significant amount of this value comes from the Ossian Offshore Wind Farm in Scotland.

Education saw the largest proportional downturn, dipping 32% to £250m, it’s lowest value since September 2024.

Infrastructure saw a massive uplift from May to 113% to £5.1bn. However, discounting Ossian Offshore Wind Farm Infrastructure would be at its lowest value since November 2024.

It was another positive month for Commercial & Retail approvals hitting £1.1bn. Almost half of the value came from the 60 Gracechurch Street – Office development in London.

Medical & Healthcare approvals have continued to drop and now sit at an unsatisfactory £40m. Less than 10 approvals sit above £1m for the whole country. The North East bounced back from a poor May to reach £230m of approvals.

Planning Approval Monthly Value by Sector (£bn)

Region Share of Approval Value by Sector (%)

Planning Applications

The overall value of planning applications dipped from April falling 19% to £7.2bn.

Apart from bright spots in Education and Infrastructure all sectors have performed poorly.

Commercial & Retail saw the large proportional drop after a relatively strong March and April to a dismal £230m.

Education has rebounded to £320m from a poor April but it still sits below the 2024 average.

The West Midlands performed very well rising by 93% to £810m with a large number of high value battery storage projects.

Planning Application Monthly Value by Sector (£bn)

Region Share of Application Value by Sector (%)

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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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Methodology for Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot

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.

Sectors covered in the snapshot

The sectors that are included in the Construction Industry Monthly Snapshot are: 

  • Residential
  • Commercial & Retail
  • Infrastructure
  • Industrial
  • Education
  • Hotel, Leisure, & Sport
  • Medical & Healthcare

2024 Construction in Review

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.

Free Construction Industry Insight Reports

Barbour ABI provides construction industry insights and intelligence. Head to our Construction Market Analysis Report pages to get even more free construction insights sent straight to your inbox every month.

Sector Review
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