Construction Output In Great Britain: September 2024, New Orders And Construction Output Price Indices, July To September 2024 - Big Falls In New House Orders

15th November 2024

Construction output is estimated to have increased by 0.8% in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2024 compared with Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024; this came solely from an increase in new work (2.0%), as repair and maintenance fell by 0.6%.

Monthly construction output is estimated to have grown by 0.1% in volume terms in September 2024; this came solely from a rise in repair and maintenance (0.4%) as new work fell by 0.2%.

At the sector level, four out of the nine sectors grew in September 2024; the main contributor to the monthly increase was private housing repair and maintenance, which grew by 1.3%.

Total construction new orders fell 22.0% (£2,722 million) in Quarter 3 2024 compared with Quarter 2 2024; this quarterly decrease came mainly from private new housing and private commercial new work, which fell 31.3% (£861 million) and 20.8% (£786 million), respectively.

The annual rate of construction output price growth was 2.0% in the 12 months to September 2024.

Construction output in September 2024
Monthly construction output is estimated to have grown by 0.1% in volume terms in September 2024. This follows growth of 0.6% (revised from 0.4%) in monthly construction output in August 2024. Monthly construction output for July 2024 fell by 0.4%.

Quarter-on-quarter construction output growth in Quarter 3 2024
Construction output grew by 0.8% (£444 million) in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2024. The quarterly growth came solely from an increase in new work (2.0%), as repair and maintenance fell by 0.6%.

The increase in Quarter 3 2024 was because of growth in two of the three months of the quarter, with growth of 0.6% in August and 0.1% in September.

Of the nine sectors, eight saw increases in Quarter 3 2024, with the largest contributors being non-housing repair and maintenance, and infrastructure new work. These sectors grew by 2.6% (£298 million) and 2.8% (£213 million), respectively.

The only negative contributor was private housing repair and maintenance, which fell by 5.8% (£539 million).

New orders in the construction industry in Quarter 3 2024
In Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2024, total construction new orders decreased by 22.0% (£2,722 million) compared with Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024. This follows an increase of 16.0% in Quarter 2 2024, compared with Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024. Quarter 3 2024 showed the lowest level of total construction new orders (£9,673 million) since Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023 (£9,126 million). More information can be found in our New orders in the construction industry dataset.

Other new work new orders (that is, non-housing) was the largest contributor to the decrease in Quarter 3 2024, falling by 18.3% (£1,682 million). This mainly came from private commercial new orders, which fell by 20.8% (£786 million) and was caused by decreases in offices, entertainment and shops. The other main contributor to the fall in other new work was public new orders, which decreased by 28.0% (£532 million).

Housing new orders saw a decrease of 32.6% (£1,041 million). This came predominantly from private new housing, which fell by 31.3% (£861 million). Public new housing also fell by 40.5% (£180 million).

Read the full ONS report HERE