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Published: 17/04/2026
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes monthly estimates of the amount of construction output chargeable to customers for building and civil engineering work in Great Britain, split by sector and type of work(1).
Construction output sees modest growth in February
Monthly construction output grew in February 2026, rising by 1.0% on January, according to the latest ONS data.
New work was up by 1.0% on the month, while R&M increased by 0.9%. The biggest monthly changes were in private new housing, up by 4.3%, and public new housing and private industrial new work, both down by 2.9%.
On an annual basis, total construction output fell by 1.0%. New work decreased by 4.8% in the 12 months ending in February 2026 while R&M rose by 4.5%. In comparison to February 2025, the only new work increase was in public non-housing, which includes health and education projects and was up by 1.1%.
The largest year-on-year decrease was in public new housing which saw a 16.0% decline. In R&M, public housing output fell by 2.9% on the year while private housing works saw an increase of 13.1%.
| Sector | Output February 2026 compared with | |
| January 2026 | February 2025 | |
| New work | ||
| Public housing | -2.9% | -16.0% |
| Private housing | 4.3% | -6.1% |
| Infrastructure | 1.2% | -0.4% |
| Public non-housing | 0.0% | 1.1% |
| Private industrial | -2.9% | -8.4% |
| Private commercial | -0.9% | -6.1% |
| All new work | 1.0% | -4.8% |
| Repair and maintenance | ||
| Public housing | 1.7% | -2.9% |
| Private housing | 1.4% | 13.1% |
| Non-housing | 0.3% | -0.8% |
| All R&M | 0.9% | 4.5% |
| All work | 1.0% | -1.0% |
Source: ONS – Output in the construction industry, Table 2a
Source: ONS – Output in the construction industry, Table 2a
BCIS chief economist, Dr David Crosthwaite said: ‘Monthly construction output saw growth in February, largely driven by a 4.3% rise in private new housing. Housing R&M activity was also up although the majority of works across the new build and R&M sectors continued to fall both annually and on a quarterly basis.
‘The real concern, however, is to what extent the US-Israel conflict with Iran impacted output in March. We’ve already seen from sentiment surveys and anecdotal evidence that client confidence has waned since the start of the war. Given the Bank Rate was held at 3.75% last month and inflation is expected to increase, I suspect next month’s data will show modest output growth at best, with a contraction the more likely outcome.’
Total construction output increased by 1.8% in 2025 compared with 2024.
This came despite a 2.1% decline in output in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, driven by a 2.6% fall in new work.
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(1) Office for National Statistics – Output in the construction industry - here
