Featured Region: East of England

Underlying value of construction projects starting on site. (Excludes individual projects of more than £100 million and framework agreements).

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The East of England consists of the following Counties: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk.

The East of England was one of the best performing regions in the UK over the course of 2010, fuelled by a housing boom and government spending on Education and Community & Amenity projects.

After suffering through a difficult 2008 and 2009, the underlying value of construction starts recovered – enjoying a 15% annual increase. The second half of the year was particularly strong posting a 25% gain against the same period in 2009 after 9% growth in the first half of the year.

Much of the region’s recovery was supported by increased government spending on education projects. However, following the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, prospects for further growth may be constrained. Other public spending will inevitably suffer from continued government investment cuts.

Private housing was one of the region’s star performers, a welcome change from the credit-crunch induced difficulties of the previous two years. With easier access to credit and renewed sector confidence, developers returned to previously shelved projects. Despite this, the house market has since cooled, dampening expectations for continued growth this year. For the region as a whole, we expect the flatness in the underlying value of new projects over 2011 to continue into this year amid pessimism over the strength of the housing market and wider economy.