In recent news we spoke about how growth in the construction industry is doing well, mainly being propped up by residential housing builds. But latest reports show that the growth of the construction industry is beginning to slow.

The cause of this is thought to be the uncertainty of Brexit.

Output is expected to drop due to a struggling economy, falling wages and increased expenditure. The latest figures for 2018 have been revised down from 1.2% growth to 0.7% growth, which is the slowest in 6 years.

However, since the Grenfell disaster there has been a sharp increase in output with £6.9billion being put into public housing repair, maintenance and improvements. And over the next two years the expected growth drivers are thought to be infrastructure and private housebuilding. Large scale projects such as HS2 and Thames Tideway Tunnel are predicted to offset the sharp decrease in commercial and industrial work.

On that note, the majority of the growth in construction in 2018 is expected to be propped up mainly by private house building. However, this sector is largely reliant on help-to-buy loans, which are running until 2021. But, unfortunately, even these growth figures have been downwardly revised due to the uncertainty that Brexit is providing.

Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association said: “Construction firms are still reporting that activity remains high and there are still lots of cranes around. But there are clear signs that construction output is slowing and that next year, in particular, will be difficult for the industry.

“Prospects for construction have been adversely affected by slowing UK economic growth and falling real wages on one side and sharp rising costs on the other. A fall in new investment, especially where it is large international investment looking for a long-term rate of return, is forecast to lead to declines in the commercial and industrial sectors.”

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