It’s that time of the month again – the release of our Snap Analysis market review. The report provides you with a snapshot review of the factors that drive the construction industry. The power behind Snap Analysis is our market leading construction project data and team of economists, making it a valuable tool for every business linked to the construction industry.
Read on to break down the Snap Analysis data that pointed towards January being a strong start to 2022 for the construction industry.
At a glance
Contract awards are off to a great start this year, with £7.2bn in January, significantly higher the long-term average of £5.5bn. This is a continuing trend, as contract awards have been achieving higher values than the long-term average for 7 months.
Planning approvals have taken a fall by 26% this month. However, despite the fall, the £7.5bn of planning approvals in January is still only a drop to average levels, after a strong showing across Q4 of 2021. Infrastructure was the only sector to achieve above average levels in January, with a strong growth of 61.7% year-on-year.
Now let’s talk planning applications, they are presented a month in arrears as there is a delay between the application date and council publication. So, December’s applications were £8.6bn which is a positive result for the year. With activity highest in residential, infrastructure, industrial and healthcare.
Dive deeper
Taking the top spot
The February edition of Snap Analysis reveals that contract award activity in the residential sector reached £2.4bn in January, which is the highest record seen since July 2021. In total, the sector had 160 projects in January, with activity spread across the whole of Great Britain. The regions which provided the strongest showings for the month are London, South West and the North West, who all had 20 or more projects.
Barbour ABI’s data also reveals what types of projects are dominating the sector. Across the residential sector, private housing dominated, with 128 projects, totalling 92% of the sector’s numbers.
So what could be the reason for the growth in private housing? A report from Estate Agent Today reveals that in 2021 there was an enormous rise in first time buyers. To be exact, 397,232 first time buyers entered the market last year, an increase of over 100,000 since 2020. This would suggest that the construction industry is building residential developments to attempt for the supply to match the demand.
The top projects
Amongst the top 10 projects by value this month, 4 are residential. With the biggest project being a £800m residential development.
As the market leader of construction leads, Barbour ABI’s data allows us to dive into a project and find out all the information that your business needs. Within this blog we will be giving you a sneak peek into the top 3 residential projects, showcasing the quality of insight our construction leads provide.
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Elephant & Castle – Phase 2
The Elephant & Castle phase 2 (Project ID: 12212363) is the construction of a new campus for London College of Communications. The completed building will include 979 flats with some build to rent units, shops, offices, restaurants and upgraded train station facilities with associated landscaping, access and parking works, following the demolition of existing buildings.
This £800m project is located in Southwark, London the construction of the campus will begin in February 2022 and take 32 months to complete, finishing in October 2024.
Image source: www.elephantandcastle.org.uk
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St Michael’s Development
St Michaels Development (Project ID: 12158098) is a £200m project which consists of the construction of 181 flats, 191-bedroom hotel, offices, restaurants, place of worship, leisure facilities with parking, landscaping, access and road construction works.
Located in Deansgate, Manchester the construction of this 33-storey building will begin this month and take 24 months to complete.
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Bray, Burnham, Dorney, Taplow Towers Major Works Project
The third largest residential project this month is the £100m Taplow Towers Major Works Project (Project ID: 12342081). This project is a refurbishment project which consists of the cladding of the 4 tower blocks at the Chalcots Estate, along with replacement window, roof and brick works.
Construction will commence in Hampstead, London in June 2022 and take 25 months to complete, finishing in July 2024.
To find out even more about these projects, such as the companies working on them or the materials used, claim your 10 free construction leads to gain valuable insight into projects across the whole of the construction industry.
