BREXIT DEBATE: THE DECLINE OF CONSTRUCTION IN LONDON

With Brexit on everyone’s lips and a construction industry declining in London, it’s easy to put the two together. However, when you look at construction as a UK industry, how is it faring? Is it just the south that is struggling or is it as dire in the north? We take a look to try and find some answers.

THE LONDON ISSUE

As the UK’s capital city, London has everything you could imagine, and it has typically been assumed to be a good place to get work. The construction industry had enjoyed the perks of being able to charge London prices, and there was a time where construction was making big money, but this has slowly declined as concerns and fears over Brexit have increased.

Many big construction companies are posting losses on their end of year accounts, and they are no longer enjoying a queue of people enquiring about work. Instead, they are having to go out and fight against their competitors for even the smallest jobs; pushing prices down so much that some companies are failing to make a profit even when they do win work. The problem of undercutting the opposition has become so bad that construction firms fear they will have to take risks with health and safety in order to pay their workers at the end of each week, and this concern only seems set to get worse.

CONSTRUCTION IN THE NORTH

With the losses apparent in London, we are left questioning whether they’re being felt throughout the UK or not. Interestingly, the construction industry in the north has posted marginal profits, leading us to believe that it is just about coping with the crisis currently facing the UK.

However, the gains aren’t huge and construction in the north is considered to be holding its own only because prices are lower and materials are cheaper. The workforce in the north also expects less in their pay packets each week, helping companies to weather the storm better. One of the key plus points for construction in the north is that there is more land ready and available to be developed with new housing. In London, on the other hand, companies are having to renovate existing sites, which doesn’t bring the same level of income and often presents construction workers with problems they need to solve rather than being able to work with a blank canvas.

THE FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION IN THE UK

The construction problem seems set to stay until Brexit is resolved and the UK economy is more stable. Workers from the south are finding themselves taking contracts away from home to pay their bills, and construction doesn’t seem set to improve any time soon in London.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however, as those who are willing to travel should be able to find work in the Midlands, Wales, and the north until the UK financial crisis has been resolved.