According Glenigan’s Construction Review for 2024, the value of residential work commencing fell by 12% from 2023.
During 2024, £44.7bn of residential work was begun. Major work - projects valued at £100m or more - dropped to 30% and accounted for only £9.8bn of this.
Main contract awards for residential projects decreased by 8% to £56.4bn. Detailed planning approvals also weakened, falling 5% from 2023 with only £64.1bn of work being greenlit.
Despite this, Glenigan is forecasting a 13% growth for private housing starts in 2025, with an 11% growth anticipated for social housing.
Private housing accounted for just over half (51%) of total project starts, but this was 11% lower than in 2023. Conversely, social sector housing grew to 30% of this with £6.4bn of work in 2024.
Glenigan also published league tables of the most active contractors and clients during this period.
Morgan Sindall was the most active contractor with £2.8bn of work across 145 projects, ahead of Wates with £2.9bn across 83 projects. Vistry came third with £1.6bn of work across 53 projects.
Barratt Redrow was the most active client with £2.6bn of work across 108 projects. Persimmon was the second most active with £2bn across 92 projects. Again, Vistry came third with £1.8bn across 71 projects.
On a regional basis, London remained the most active region with 19% of all project starts despite a 20% fall from 2023. The South East followed with 17% of starts, down 1% from 2023.
Notable growth was recorded in the North West where projects rose 2% to a 10% share, with approvals up 16% during the same period.
Putting housing weakness aside, project starts across all construction sectors saw overall project starts increase by 20% from 2023 to average £10.4bn a month.
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