ACR-News

Construction output increased by 2.2% in October compared with September and by 5.3% compared with a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The ONS has also made significant revisions to output during the first three quarters of 2013, which will also boost UK GDP. In addition, buoyant construction new orders for the third quarter should ensure further industry growth into 2014.

Economics director at the Construction Products Association, Dr Noble Francis, said: 'The latest output figures highlight that the recovery in construction since the weather-affected Q1 continues unabated. Growth of 2.2% in October adds to the upward revisions in output during the first three quarters and overall this will boost UK economic activity by an additional £1.5 billion.

'Unsurprisingly, private housing has been the key driver of recent output growth. Demand in the housing market has been boosted by Help to Buy and, as a consequence, output in the sector rose 6.2% in October compared with September and 16.9% compared with a year earlier. In addition, output in the largest construction sector, private commercial, rose 0.8% in October compared with September and grew 8.7% compared with a year ago, driven primarily by major projects in London.'

Dr Francis continued: 'Looking forward, the ONS also reported that new orders for construction in Q3 were broadly flat compared with Q2 but considerably higher than one year earlier, with double-digit annual growth in the private housing and commercial sectors, suggesting that the recent growth should also continue into 2014.'