Reaction to Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI for April

The Vinden Partnership says that the UK construction industry’s sluggish performance comes as no surprise.

The Markit/CIPS UK construction PMI for April has been released and shows that construction output in the UK has fallen to its weakest level since June 2013.

The UK construction’s PMI dropped to 52.0 from March’s figure of 54.2 but still above the 50.0 mark, which indicates growth.

New order volumes were reported to have declined meaning it is unlikely a sharp rise in growth in the short term appears unlikely.

In a blow to the government’s ambitious house building plan, the residential building sector only reported a slight increase in growth from March’s 28-month low figure.

The best performing sector was commercial building, with civil engineering recording the weakest performance increasing at the slowest rate seen so far in 2016.

Confidence within the construction industry would appear to have taken a dent, with positivity around the sector at a near three-year low.

Peter Vinden, Managing Director of The Vinden Partnership – a leading multi-disciplinary consultant company to the built environment – said: “I don’t think anybody will be surprised by the construction industry’s sluggish performance in April.

“The marginal increase in residential house building is a cause for concern given the huge demand and the ambition of the government’s housing plan.

“I don’t envisage the situation changing too much until we have a clearer political and economic outlook following the European Union referendum in June.”

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