RMI bucks the trend of construction industry contraction
About this article
Between December 2025 and February 2026, UK GDP grew by 0.5%; however, unlike services and production, which grew by 0.5% and 1.2% respectively, construction&nb
Skip to content RMI bucks the trend of construction industry contraction By Kenneth Booth April 17, 2026 Between December 2025 and February 2026, UK GDP grew by 0.5%; however, unlike services and production, which grew by 0.5% and 1.2% respectively, construction fell by 2.0%. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The economy is in a stronger place than many presumed; however, growth in construction is proving elusive and where growth has occurred, it remains way below the 2023 baseline it is set against and in areas where public funding has been strong.” Over a three-month period, output in infrastructure and public works rose by 2.1%, but the highest growth was in private repair and maintenance, which grew by 6.7%. Output in all new housing fell by 2.5%, with productivity in new public housing hitting lows last seen in July 2019. This has coincided with a steady drop in monthly brick deliveries, a useful indicator for industry health, which were 34.5% lower relative to February 2019. Rico Wojtulewicz, Director of Policy and Market Insight at the NFB, said: “The winter period is when projects are gearing up for delivery, so growth is rarely certain. However, construction insolvency is up, brick deliveries are down and material prices continue to rise. Industry confidence remains low. It was very pleasing to see growth in private housing repair and maintenance, and it warrants further investigation into what the drive...
