Featured Sector Community & Amenity

The community and amenity sector has weathered a tough couple of years. This sector covers a wide range of publicly funded service buildings that have suffered from a lack of funds as capital spending has been diverted to other more politically sensitive areas.

This year so far underlying starts have fallen by 10%. These losses were despite starts of Government administrative buildings more than doubling over the same period.

The outlook for the sector is pessimistic. The 23% rise in detailed planning approvals recorded by Glenigan in 2012 fed through to an increase in project starts during the first quarter of this year. However the sector has since fallen back, leaving the value of planning approvals during the first eight months of 2013 7% down on a year ago.

These underlying figures exclude the £650m US embassy in London which started on site in July and is expected to complete late in August 2017.