Residential Construction Activity in February Increased by Twenty Per Cent Year on Year

LONDON, March 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Residential activity across the construction sector continued its hold at the top of the industry in February, contributing £1.6 billion worth of contracts by value and representing 27 per cent of total contracts.

According to the latest Barbour ABI construction sector report, there were a number of primary sectors within residential construction that had a significant increase in activity for contracts awarded in February. The value of contracts awarded for apartment building projects increased by 53 per cent in February year on year, worth a total value of over £400 million on the month. However, the biggest jump in contract values came from highly debated housing association dwellings, with the total project spend at £600,000 in February 2014, increasing significantly to over £55 million last month.

The sector also experienced a major increase of residential units reaching the contract award stage in February at 14,455 which is the highest recorded figure since Barbour ABI began tracking this data and almost 50 per cent higher than 12 months ago.

Michael Dall, Lead Economist at Barbour ABI, commented: 'A record amount of units awarded at the contract stage this past month, in addition to significant contract value increases for primary residential categories, means that the residential sector remains buoyant as we progress in 2015.

'As the performance of house builders such as Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes reached record profit levels in 2014 and private housing accounted for over 80 per cent of residential contract values awarded in February (worth more than £1.2 billion) there is no sign of the residential sector relinquishing its sustained dominance of the construction industry any time soon.'

About Barbour ABI: 

Barbour ABI is a leading provider of construction intelligence services. With a team of in-house research specialists and a dedicated lead economist, it provides commercially relevant insight and unique analysis of trends and developments within the building and construction industry.

Barbour ABI is the chosen provider of Construction New Orders data to the Office for National Statistics and the Government's Construction and Infrastructure Pipeline, outlining future construction and infrastructure projects where public funding is agreed. Barbour ABI also provides data for independent organisations, such as the Construction Products Association.

Barbour ABI is part of global events-led marketing services and communications company, UBM, and is headquartered in Cheshire Oaks, Cheshire.

For more information, go to http://www.barbour-abi.com or follow us on Twitter @BarbourABI for all the latest construction data news.

About UBM:    

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Notes to editors:
Press enquiries to:
Jonathan Touhey at Barbour ABI
e: jonathan.touhey@barbour-abi.com
t: +44(0)151-353-3605