The main points are:

  • Construction output grew by 2.9% in the month-on-month all work series in September 2020, driven by increases in both new work (2.7%) and repair and maintenance (3.4%); this is the fifth consecutive month of growth but the lowest rise in that time.

  • The level of construction output in September 2020 was 7.3% below that in February 2020, with only infrastructure and private new housing having returned to above their pre-pandemic levels of output; all other types of work in September 2020 have yet to recover, with public new housing the furthest below its February 2020 level at 29.4%.

  • Quarterly construction output grew by a record 41.7% in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2020 compared with Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020; this was driven by record quarterly growth in both new work (40.8%) and repair and maintenance (43.4%).

  • The increase in new work (40.8%) in Quarter 3 2020 was because of record quarterly growth in all new work sectors; the largest contributor was private new housing, which grew by 84.4% in Quarter 3 2020 compared with Quarter 2 2020.

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  • The increase in repair and maintenance (43.4%) in Quarter 3 2020 was because of record growth in all repair and maintenance sectors; the largest contributor was private housing repair and maintenance, which grew by 70.9% in Quarter 3 2020 compared with Quarter 2 2020.

  • New orders grew by a record 89.2% in Quarter 3 2020 compared with Quarter 2 2020, following the record quarterly fall in Quarter 2 2020 of 54.0%; following this record quarterly growth new orders returned to a level comparable with Quarter 3 2019, increasing by 0.6% in the quarter-on-year series.

  • The record new orders quarterly growth (89.2%) was because of 88.7% growth in new housing and 89.4% in all other work; public new housing was the only sector to decline in Quarter 3 2020 compared with Quarter 2 2020, falling by 1.8%.

  • The annual rate of construction output growth was 0.4% in September 2020.

NB In this publication, the ONS has released a short survey about the monthly construction output bulletin to gain feedback on its content. The survey should take less than five minutes to complete and the ONS would be grateful for any feedback.

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