The analysis shows a decline in contract awards and infrastructure, with a few sources of promise for the future
The Barbour ABI November analysis marks the second consecutive month of contract awards falling, with award values down by 35%, following the 36% drop in October.
This trend has been consistent since the election with awards dropping a full 29% between Q3 and Q4 2024.
Residential projects saw a 36% drop
Residential projects dropped to £1.6bn, while infrastructure awards were 64% below the 2024 average, in spite of increasing in November, making it the second worst month behind April 2023.
The North West especially had a bad November, with awards dropping by 54% from October, and 24% below the 2024 average.
On a positive note, however, new planning applications were up in October for all sectors, commensurate with a 26% overall increase in the value of applications against September, at £8.3bn.
This data in the Barbour ABI November analysis suggests that companies are still looking to fill out their pipelines in 2025, as is expected towards the end of the year.
The North East also recovered to a point above the two-year average, with a lot of that value coming from a Data Centre application at Durham University, worth £250m, and a part of the application rush sweeping through the UK.
“More positivity in the pipeline”
Barbour ABI head of business and client analytics, Ed Griffiths, said: “It has been another disappointing month for contract awards. All regions except the East of England were uneventful in November. The significant dip in residential awards does little to inspire confidence in the government’s drive to get Britain building.
“Infrastructure saw a small increase, but it is still struggling. We can only hope the Government’s recent waving through of 150 major infrastructure projects will finally light a fire under the sector.
“There is more positivity in the pipeline coming from applications, but with approvals down 26% as well, it is yet to be seen how many of these will make it through the planning process. Hopefully, with the government’s recent and renewed push on local councils and planning reforms we will start to see more projects come through the pipeline.
“Industry watchers should also keep an eye on Data Centre projects. There are a large number of projects in planning phase, and with the government designating them critical infrastructure this could become a huge driver for activity in 2025.”
In support of this aspect, in September, plans were submitted for a Data Centre Campus in Hertfordshire worth £3.75bn and one of the largest data centres in Europe.
Another data centre, the Humber Tech Park, had an application put through in August, located in Lincolnshire and worth £3bn.
