After a year of unpredictability for the UK economy as a whole, overall contract value figures for the construction sector reached £70 billion, decreasing by 5% compared to 2015, according to the latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review  from industry analysts Barbour ABI.  

The report said that housebuilding in the UK continued to grow across the majority of the year, with total value of contracts at £23.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11%. Furthermore, from the housebuilding sector the planning activity increased in 2016 with the total value of projects reaching an advanced planning stage of £49.8 billion, an increase of 19.2% from the value in 2015.  

Commenting on the figures, Michael Dall, Lead Economist at Barbour ABI, said: “It is clear from our yearly figures that the housebuilding sector was the main component of growth across 2016. Even after the initial shock of the Brexit vote, where many housebuilders' share prices fell in excess of 20%, this did not hamper activity with both the current and future pipelines of work remaining strong.”   

Michael added that with important political decisions likely to come in 2017 that could have implications on construction activity, the future is difficult to predict.   

Photo: Housebuilding in the UK grew for most of last year.