NEWS Sponsored by
Construction still uncertain despite ‘build, build, build’
Most read on
ACR-news.com
Carrier offers new CPDs on chiller efficiency
www.acr-news.com/carrier-offers-new- cpds-on-chiller-efficiency
Future-proof with redundancy – yet still cost-effective
www.acr-news.com/future-proof-with- redundancy--yet-still-cost-effective
BESA backs redundant workers with free SKILLcards
www.acr-news.com/besa-backs-redundant- workers-with-free-skillcards
Tom Fitzsimons retires from Pump House
www.acr-news.com/tom-fitzsimons-retires- from-pump-house
Air con – perfect for the garden office
www.acr-news.com/air-con--perfect-for- the-garden-office
Bitzer UK appoints James Graham as sales director
www.acr-news.com/bitzer-uk-appoints- james-graham-as-sales-director
Online air conditioning sales put lives in dange
www.acr-news.com/online-air-conditioning- sales-put-lives-in-danger
Smardt gears ap to accelerate global growth
www.acr-news.com/smardtgears- aptoaccelerateglobal-growth
T
he full impact of Covid-19 on the UK economy is expected to spell uncertainty for the construction industry according
to the Construction Products Association’s (CPA) latest forecasting, despite the government putting the industry at the front and centre of its recovery plans. Potential structural changes to the UK economy brought on by the pandemic, as well as uncertainty around consumer confidence and unemployment rates, could prove significant to construction activity returning to pre-Covid growth rates.
Despite activity on site returning slightly quicker than initially expected post-lockdown, the CPA Summer Scenarios still anticipates construction output in 2020 to fall by 20.6%, with the worst affected sectors including private housing (-33%) and commercial (-29%). The report points out that returns to construction sites from mid-May were largely to drive completions on existing projects and pent-up demand for refurbishments that couldn’t take place during the restrictions. It points out that uncertainty still remains, however, around longer- term demand and future new orders given the state of the wider economy. Consumer confidence is impacting the commercial sector, which is grappling with larger structural shifts towards e-commerce, accelerated by the coronavirus shutdown of non-essential retail, as well as the potential shift towards homeworking, reducing the demand for city centre office developments and diverting retail spending further away from high streets to online. The CPA Scenarios point to these larger shifts
in the UK economy as crucial to the construction industry’s fortunes, claiming that the £5 billion ‘New Deal’ of construction investment announced
under the government slogan ‘build, build, build’, was largely a re-announcement of existing budgets. As such, the ‘New Deal’ will have little impact on boosting construction activity beyond what was already expected. While measures in the Chancellor’s recent Summer Statement could potentially have a significant impact on construction, the extent of this is still unclear given the lack of new funding and a lack of clear strategy on the implementation of the £2 billion Green Homes Grant. Commenting on the Summer Scenarios, the CPA’s economics director, Noble Francis, said: “The quicker-than-expected return to sites is certainly a positive sign, and evidence of the CPA’s main scenario of a ‘tick’ shape sharp recession and recovery, with coronavirus a temporary issue primarily affecting economic activity in the first half of 2020. When social distancing eased in mid-May, sustained UK economic recovery from June was enabled as services that involve person- to-person interaction gradually opened. “There still remains a significant number of
long term uncertainties for the UK economy though, including: unemployment rates as furlough comes to an end, the uptake of homeworking, the potential of a second wave of infection, and, of course, the end of the Brexit implementation period in December. “While next year we anticipate construction output rising 18.0% overall, it is worth noting that this is compared with a low base of activity in 2020 and will still be 6.4% lower than pre-coronavirus levels. The delivery of major infrastructure projects will be crucial to growth in 2021, with activity on site less affected by social distancing and major projects like HS2 driving significant growth for the sector.”
4 September 2020
www.acr-news.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
