Glenigan Index: Infrastructure Drives 6% Growth in Project Starts

Construction project starts increased 6% year on year for the three months to October due to 79% growth in infrastructure and utilities project starts according to the latest Glenigan Index. Investments included road and rail station projects in South West and the South East of England plus decommissioning of a nuclear power plant and new wind turbine projects. The growth is against a particularly low level of project starts a year ago across the construction industry.

Non-Residential construction project starts increased 2% year on year as the impacts of Government funding cuts were counteracted by growth in private sector construction. Office and industrial project starts increased significantly while education project starts remain weak. Residential construction project starts were 10% down on a year ago. Glenigan forecasts further retrenchment in social housing construction and stabilising private housing starts over the coming months.

Regionally the East, South East and South West of England saw the highest increases in project starts. The North East and Wales saw growth of over 10% while London, the East Midlands and the North West fell by more than 10%. Project starts in Scotland were particularly weak.