- Prior 55.3
The reading is a little softer than in July but still looking good. New order growth continues to be strong while housing activity picked up to rise by its quickest since September 2022. Commercial activity remains the best performing sector but all - including civil engineering - are posting growth, so that about sums up the broad-based strength. HCOB notes that:
"The UK construction sector appears to have turned a corner after a difficult start to 2024, with renewed vigour in the house building segment the most notable development in August. Residential work expanded at the fastest pace for almost two years as lower borrowing costs and a gradual recovery in market conditions helped to boost activity.
"Commercial building was the best-performing part of the construction sector as the improving UK economic backdrop resulted in stronger order books, but the postelection bounce in demand faded somewhat in August.
"Another robust expansion of incoming new work was recorded in August, highlighting that new project starts are set to support a broader rebound in construction activity during the months ahead.
"Improving sales pipelines and a turnaround in demand conditions led to a relatively strong degree of business optimism across the construction sector. However, some firms cited a slowdown in civil engineering activity and concerns about the outlook for infrastructure work as constraints on growth expectations."
