Housebuilding has fallen to its slowest pace since the credit crunch of 2009, excluding the pandemic.
The S&P Global and CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction industry revealed housebuilding contracted at the worst rate in nearly 15 years last month, once Covid-19 was stripped out.
The downbeat reading helped to drag the overall construction PMI down to 45, far below the 50 points that separate growth from contraction, and August’s reading of 50.8. The reading was much worse than the 49.9 forecast from analysts polled by Reuters.
S&P said the aggressive run of interest rate rises by the Bank of England to tame inflation had curtailed demand in the property market, prompting housebuilders to mothball developments.
Capital Economics said the figures were consistent with housing construction dropping by more than 20% year-on-year in Q4, and residential construction falling to its lowest level in over a decade in 2024.
