Running the numbers

2023 was a rough year for construction, with rising interest rates, higher construction costs, and political instability weighing heavily on the industry. There was an £11.1 billion fall in spending on construction according to Barbour ABI and a 16% fall in new planning applications.

Meanwhile, 4,383 construction businesses failed and housebuilders, hit hardest by economic headwinds, managed to complete just 133,213 new homes.

April was the first chance to see if construction is in a better place in 2024 as Q1 results came in. Senior account director and data specialist Simon White takes the reins for this monthly news round-up, looking at the latest numbers and what data is telling us about the industry today.

The Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) is an economic indicator derived from a monthly survey of private sector companies. The construction index rose from 49.7 in February to 50.2 in March, which is the highest it has been since August last year, indicating that confidence is returning to the market.

PMI’s analysis of new orders for March showed construction return to growth for the first time in six months, in an early indication that the industry is starting on the road to recovery.

Read more about PMI’s analysis here.

Housebuilding has been hit the hardest by high interest rates, so it will come as some relief that Bloomberg UK suggested it’s “becoming very hard to deny that the UK’s housing market is bouncing back”.

Mortgage approvals have rallied strongly in 2024 so far. Bank of England data shows that nearly 60,400 loans were approved in February, compared to 56,000 in January. The number was well ahead of forecasts.

Find out more on Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Barbour ABI’s April snap analysis highlighted the tension between increased spending on contract awards in 2024 and limited interest in new planning applications. Businesses seem keen to get existing projects off the ground but nervous to commit to future work.

This suggests the industry stands at a crossroads where financial and political decisions made at a national level could tip the balance in either direction.

Sky News presented an eye-opening investigation into the impact of rising service charges on people in shared ownership properties as the industry continues to struggle with the housing crisis – with some seeing charges triple.

Data showed that shared ownership makes up half of new funding spent on affordable housing, overtaking social rent as the main type of publicly subsidised housebuilding under the current government.

Discover more on Sky News.

Construction News found that just one in nine top-paid staff at UK contractors are women. And women make three-quarters of men’s hourly wages at top contractors. Costain had the greatest median gender pay gap, with women earning 60p for every £1 that men earn per hour.

Given the forced reshuffle caused by economic conditions, perhaps now would be a good time for businesses to invest in diversity to help create a better industry as it rises from the ashes.

Read the full story here.

These stories all rely on data to help tell them and at LMC we are establishing a data team to bring together PR, analytics and visualisation to maximise the potential impact of our clients' data.

To learn more about how to turn data into influence, check out Simon’s blog which contains some top tips for mining your data to create your own newsworthy content.