Featured Region: South West

After three years of decline, the value of project starts in the South West rebounded with a 20% increase in 2011. This improvement was sustained in 2012 with starts rising by a further 14%. Though growth slowed during 2013, rising by 4% over the year, the first quarter of 2014 has seen the long run positive trend accelerate, with starts in the first quarter almost a third higher than a year earlier.

House building has been an important and positive driver of rising work volumes, the housing market in the region began to recover in 2012 with prices rising faster than the UK average in 2013. House prices in the first quarter of 2014 were 7% higher than a year earlier according to Nationwide, though this lagged the UK average due to the effect on the figures of rapid price rises in the capital. This strength in house building was reflected in the recent ONS output figures, with private housing new build work and housing R&M continuing to fuel a large share of growth in the region. Strong growth in the underlying values of project starts and detailed planning approvals during 2013 suggests that workloads will see further strength in the coming year.

The South West was one of only three regions that saw the value of project starts in 2013 higher than in 2007, and is expected to see further expansion in starts and output during 2014.

The South Wests consists of the following Counties: Channel Islands, Isles of Scilly, Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire.