The Construction Products Association (CPA) has published its Autumn forecast and there is better news, as the forecast for next year has been upgraded to 2.5% growth for 2025 and 3.8% in 2026. Versus the fall of 2.9% this year (2024).
The past 18 months have been a challenge for the industry, particularly for private housing new build and repair, maintenance and improvement.
In private housing, falls in interest rates and mortgage rates are driving a gradual recovery in demand. CPA economists expect this to lead to better prospects for housebuilders.
With the much-anticipated budget this Wednesday, the government is set to boost housebuilding after working to simplify planning constraints. However fundamental supply issues remain the same the CPA says, which include a lack of planning resources at local authority level.
There also appear to be considerable delays in starting high-rise housing and some commercial buildings due to uncertainty over the Building Safety Act and a lack of capacity at the Building Safety Regulator.
There is also the continuing skills gap, with an ageing workforce and the ongoing difficulties in attracting new recruits.
To end the further good news is that the CPA is forecasting an 8% rise in private housing output for 2025, after a 9% fall this year.
