UK construction output grew modestly over the summer, driven by a rise in housing repair and maintenance that offset a slowdown in new building activity, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Total construction output rose by 0.3% in the three months to August 2025, with growth in repair and maintenance work up 1.3% helping to counter a 0.4% fall in new work.
Private housing repair and maintenance was the single largest contributor to the quarterly rise, increasing by 5.6% as homeowners continued to invest in existing properties rather than moving.
Of the nine construction sectors measured by the ONS, five recorded growth over the three-month period. But on a monthly basis, total output fell by 0.3% in August, following flat growth in July, as repair and maintenance activity dropped by 1.5% while new work edged up 0.5%.
SLUGGISH PLANNING APPROVALS
The data highlights the fragile state of the sector amid sluggish planning approvals, cost inflation, and persistent funding pressures.
Neil Leitch *main picture, inset), Managing Director of Development Finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, reckoned that while the latest figures offered a degree of reassurance, they masked deeper structural challenges.
He said: “These figures are a welcome surprise given the wider challenges facing the sector. Just last month, official data showed planning approvals at record lows, while the Home Builders Federation reported that approvals for small sites have halved.
“This level of constraint is completely unsustainable, holding back the delivery of new homes and threatening the Government’s pledge to deliver a million this Parliament.”
HARDEST HIT
And he added: “Even once planning approval is secured, many projects fail to progress, stalled by rising costs, funding uncertainty, and the long wait between consent and delivery. SME developers are central to local housing supply, yet they are the ones hit hardest by this lack of consistency.
“The funding is there to support well-structured schemes, but without certainty that approvals will translate into starts, capital and capability both sit idle.
“The new Housing Secretary is right to want us to ‘build, baby, build’, but that ambition must be matched with action. The upcoming Budget is an opportunity to invest in planning departments, strengthen local delivery capacity, and attract new talent into construction.”
Despite August’s dip, overall output remains 2.3% higher than a year earlier. Economists say sustained improvement will depend on policy support and progress in unlocking delayed residential schemes.
