Reaction to ONS construction industry output figures for October

The Vinden Partnership says rise in house building is positive news for the construction industry

The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed a surprise fall in out for the construction industry in October.

In comparison with the previous month’s performance, construction output decreased by 0.6% in October.

All new work fell by 0.9%, with infrastructure seeing a drop off of 4.1% on September’s figures.

There was some better news in the shape of an upward revision of September’s figures – up to 0.9% from the original reading of 0.3%

House building also fared well in the report, with a 2.4% rise in new private housing from September.

However, public new housing decreased by 3.0% resulting in an overall growth of new housing of 1.7%

In comparison with October 2015, there were increases in both public and private new housing of 4.4% and 13.9% respectively.

Peter Vinden, Managing Director of The Vinden Partnership – a leading multi-disciplinary consultant company to the built environment said: “These latest figures from the Office of National Statistics are in contrast to those of the Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI surveys, which painted a far more robust image of the construction industry.

“Last month’s Autumn Statement should steady some nerves when it comes to infrastructure activity following a disappointing performance in these figures.

“There are some positives with encouraging statistics on house building but uncertainty surrounding the construction industry clearly still remains.”

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