NEWS IN BRIEF ❖ CONSTRUCTION OUTPUT SET TO RISE 14% Industry experts are predicting a 14% rise in construction output in 2021 and a 4.9% increase in 2022. The Construction Products Association (CPA) announced that construction will see a ‘W’-shaped economic recession and recovery. Their assumption takes into
UK CONSTRUCTION MARKET FACING SPIRALLING COSTS ❖ A leading UK construction trade body has issued a warning over spiralling materials costs as a result of disruptions brought about by the twin impact of coronavirus and Brexit. The Builders Merchants Federation, members of which manufacture 76% of building products in the UK, raised the flag in late-January after months of travel uncertainty, and ongoing confusion surrounding new import and export rules and border controls following the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU at the start of the year. The news adds to an increasingly problematic outlook for British construction. Record house prices set in 2020 are expected to falter in the coming months as purchases fail to complete ahead of the tax holiday deadline on March 31, 2021. Meanwhile, land value in some towns and cities has also fallen as more and more businesses are seriously considering a future in which remote working is often the norm, or at least an option, reducing the pressure for people to live in major urban areas. Alongside evidence of limited availability of roofing materials, the organisation pointed to an average 20% increase in the price of timber.
But while the timing would suggest a sector responding to huge logistical challenges and changes brought about by European and worldwide circumstances in the last year, for some in the industry this is as much about phenomenal demand as it is anything else–with more materials understandably being used when there is high demand for property in general. “As the biggest manufacture of timber scaffold boards in the UK we would like to think we are getting an extremely good deal on the raw material, but over the last year we have seen our costs spiral to levels never seen before,” said Ollie Appleby, director of Brent Scaffold Boards Ltd. “The cost of timber has been very stable for a number of years, it has only been over the last 18 months we have seen it start to creep up, with huge increases in the last six months,” he continued, before explaining that the only way in which prices might now fall is if the appetite for timber materials and associated products does the same. “The only way timber prices will reduce is when the global demand subsides. Brexit has had a small impact to costs but the overall cost is down to high log prices, delivery costs and global demand.”
account the new lockdown restrictions over winter 2020/21 before a sustained recovery from 2021 Q2 as vaccines are rolled out and the services-based economy can reopen again.
❖ CLC CALLS FOR END OF SELF-EMPLOYED ON SITES The Construction Leadership Council is calling for an end to self-employment throughout the supply chain on public sector projects by 2024. The CLC wants procurement practices changed to demand direct employment within supply chains through prequalification questionnaires and tender criteria. The call is part of a skills plan to boost new entrants into the industry and increase apprenticeships. It said direct employment is “an enabler of apprenticeships, digital upskilling and competence.”
❖ CITB SEARCH FOR NEW BOSS The CITB is on the lookout for a new £150,000-a-year Chief Executive. Sarah Beale, the current CEO of the CITB since 2017, exits the role this autumn after tendering her resignation towards the end of last year. The role was advertised with an annual salary of £150,000. The CITB said, “The purpose of the role is to maximise the value of the Levy, provide inclusive and inspirational leadership of CITB, and deliver strong organisational performance against agreed business plans.”
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