Registered social landlords (RSLs) are the main drivers of workload in this sector, but councils are also building new social housing.

RSLs and councils also spend heavily on maintaining existing homes under their management, with Glenigan forecasting that a swathe of maintenance deals will also come on stream next year.

Student accommodation work, which sits within this sector, is also expected to benefit from a 12.4% rise in the number of overseas students coming to the UK, with student accommodation project starts forecast to rise by 16% in 2024. 

Looking further into the future, the pace of growth will slow but continue upward.

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Student accommodation work is forecast to rise by 10% in 2025, when overall social housing project starts are expected to increase by 5%, promising a steady stream of work for the industry.

Allan Wilén, economics director at Glenigan, commented: “Greater cost stability is expected to improve the viability of planned projects and enable housing associations to increase their development activity over the next two years.

“There is a significant pipeline of approved projects that can move to the construction site.

“A sharp rise in main contracts awarded over the first nine months of 2023 is expected to support a recovery in sector activity over the forecast period.”