Increased demand in the construction sector, combined with the multiple and complex impacts of the pandemic and logistic issues with the Ukraine conflict, have resulted in unprecedented shortages, delays and increased prices of materials across the UK.
The National Association of Building Contractors has noticed a slower pace of work from their accredited builders due to complications resulting from Brexit which have exacerbated this situation, affecting all aspects of trade and labor availability with repercussions impacting the UK construction sector.
Construction productivity has mostly now recovered from the initial shock brought by the pandemic. However, over the summer, a drop in productivity was reported due to sub-contractors self-isolating when contacted by the Test and Trace system.
Other factors affecting construction demand include significant lifestyle changes triggered by the pandemic, with many people continuing to work from home reassessing their housing needs and moving areas.
Expectations for output growth in the next 12 months are far less exuberant than those seen over the past two years, amid concerns that elevated inflation and higher borrowing costs will constrain demand. Nonetheless, the degree of the construction sector optimism picked up slightly since September, which ended a five-month period slow compared to previous years.
Ultimately, people could cancel the jobs if things continue to rise, because there will come a point where it just doesn’t make financial sense to build things if materials are ridiculously expensive.
People are now stopping to spend that extra £40,000 on their new loft conversion, or having that nice garage conversion done because everything else is going up.
Moving into 2023 the landscape will hopefully look different with interest rates stabilizing and hopefully things getting back to what they once were.
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