The continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit and other events are causing many to wonder about the state of the UK’s construction market. While the industry did see delays and cautious clients at the beginning of summer 2019, there are also reasons to remain optimistic about what the rest of 2019 and 2020 holds in store for the industry.
The number of major commercial works may be decreasing in some areas; however, high quality projects are still going ahead, and the Mid Group is continuing to make good progress on a number of public and commercial projects. Additionally, government spending on schools, roads and infrastructure is providing a sustainable demand for construction work.
Furthermore, affordable starter homes continue to be in very high demand, particularly in London and other critically undersupplied cities. Local authorities are also continuing to fund large numbers of new homes, a process begun in 2016. Local authorities are becoming a significant source of demand for construction projects.
The increased time and budget constraints of meeting this demand have resulted in significant growth in the use of offsite construction to deliver affordable homes quickly and ease the pressure on first-time buyers.
As with commercial projects, there is currently a trend of decreased investment for high-end residential projects, but strong projects are moving forward and the high demand in other areas of the housing market ensures there is no shortage of work for contractors and developers.
There is no doubt that the current political and economic uncertainty is causing some in the construction market to be overly cautious; however, it is clear there is a strong underlying demand.
Sahel Majali UK
Sahel Majali has worked on dynamic public and private construction and development projects in the UK and globally for more than 30 years.
Sahel Majali is the Chairman of the Mid Group. Established in the UK in 2014, the Mid Group is an offsite construction business dedicated to providing specialist construction and engineering services. Follow Sahel Majali on Facebook for news and updates about the UK construction market.