Building construction capability in the regions will help with levelling up and create a more resilient industry, says Kris Hudson
After the recent local elections where metro mayors dominated the headlines, the government has promised a new levelling up white paper this summer to replace its mothballed one on devolution. When it lands, it is expected to articulate much-trailed plans to raise up regions beyond the South East by boosting investment.
Construction has a pivotal role to play in this levelling up process, as the government has chosen the built environment as one of the main investment areas for its new policy programme. Yet after years of solid output growth, the shock of the pandemic and the UK’s exit from the EU have taken a toll.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows overall output is not far off reaching recovery, with Q1 2021 only down -1.7% compared with on pre-pandemic levels. But this is propped up by repair and maintenance, increasing by 6.4%, while the more significant metric of new work is -5.9% below its pre-pandemic peak. The challenge is getting back to these higher levels of new work output, strengthening the sector’s position and ability to support the government’s investment drive.
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