A bleak year for UK Construction, says CPA

The latest Construction Trade Survey has revealed that The UK's construction industry continued to drop during the final quarter of 2009 despite the wider economy showing signs of growth.

The survey also indicated that 2010 will present construction firms with difficult working conditions. The industry is not only facing a decrease in orders and enquiries but also a rise in material costs and increases in fuel and energy prices.

The Construction Products Association (CPA) believes that, as a result, economic recovery in the sector could be at least a year away.

Noble Francis, the Economics Director at the CPA, commented that the continuing drop in workloads across the construction industry "is of great concern, especially given that the situation has been exacerbated by rising energy and raw materials costs."

Mr Francis added that, when coupled with falling tender prices, this has put increasing amounts of pressure on an industry that has been declining for over two years.

In December 2009 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that public spending on construction would fall by 50% over the next four years, which has created further concern within the industry.

Mr Francis believes that with last year's fall in construction the sharpest on record, this could further delay any potential growth in 2011.

Despite this, production has been scheduled for new private house building, and as a result the sector is expected to be 15% higher than the previous year, with similar levels of growth over the next three years.