New figures have revealed construction output rose by 2.5% in April compared to March.

Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals despite fears of a slowdown in the industry due to the EU referendum, all new work increased by 2.9%.

However, despite indications of growth, output was 3.7% down when compared to April 2015.

In addition, the underlying pattern as suggested by the 3 month on 3 month movement in output fell by 2.1%.

New order figures for the first quarter were also estimated to have decreased 1.2% compared to last years fourth quarter, while this figure was also lower than output orders in Q1 2015 (1.2%).


Professor Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association, said while the figures were encouraging, progress on new orders could be offset in the second half of 2016 once the EU vote is finished.

"Today's output figures are, of course, encouraging, but what is of greater interest are the 'forward-looking' new orders, which fell 1.2% in Q1. This was likely led by a 17% drop in the private housing sector for Q1 versus Q4, though orders in this sector remained up 18% versus a year ago.

"Other data from across the sector show that private house building activity is already improving. Still more encouraging is that new orders in the infrastructure sector continue to go from strength-to-strength, up 27% in Q1 versus Q4 and up 16% versus a year ago. As we've highlighted in our own forecasts, this sector looks set to lead activity for the wider industry over near-term.

"The underlying fundamentals for the construction sector remain strong, so the modest fall in new orders may reflect a slight impact from uncertainty around the EU Referendum.

"We would also expect new orders in Q2 to suffer a greater impact from this same uncertainty; however, this could all be offset in the second half of the year once the vote is out of the way."

(LM)