span>span>Thursday 15th May 2025/span>span> - 09:22 (BST)/span>/span>
Britain’s construction sector showed fresh signs of vitality in early 2025, with new orders surging at their fastest annual pace since mid-2024. The first quarter saw a 10.5% year-on-year rise in construction orders, a notable acceleration from a modest 0.2% uptick at the end of last year.
Driving the rebound was a sharp increase in demand for infrastructure and commercial projects, broadly grouped under “all other work”, which jumped 19% - up from a 4.6% rise in the previous quarter. In contrast, the housing market painted a less encouraging picture with new housing orders continuing their downward trajectory and falling 12.2%. Private housing saw a pronounced drop of 17.2%, deepening the previous quarter’s 4.2% decline. Public sector housing provided a rare bright spot, rebounding 34.6% after a steep contraction late last year.
Quarter-on-quarter, the recovery was even more striking: construction orders soared 26.6% - the strongest gain since the third quarter of 2020 when the sector was bouncing back from pandemic-induced shutdowns.
The latest figures offered a modest boost to the pound, which also benefited from a positive Q1 GDP reading. A revival in construction, especially in public and infrastructure spending, could fuel expectations of stronger economic momentum in the second half of 2025.
