According to the report from IHS Markit/CIPS, UK construction companies signalled a return to business activity growth during February, following a nine-month period of declining workloads. The latest survey also pointed to the sharpest rise in new orders since December 2015. Anecdotal evidence mainly linked the recovery to a postelection improvement in business confidence and pent-up demand for new projects.

At 52.6 in February, up from 48.4 in January, the headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Total Activity Index registered above the 50.0 no-change value for the first time since April 2019. Moreover, the latest reading signalled that the overall rate of construction output growth was the fastest for 14 months.

Survey respondents noted that improved demand had translated into higher levels of business activity in February, particularly in the housing and commercial sub-sectors. There were some reports, however, that severe weather conditions had led to delays on site and acted as a brake on growth.

Residential activity remained the best-performing construction category. Latest data signalled the strongest expansion of house building activity since July 2018. Commercial work also returned to growth in February, with the sub-sector posting its fastest increase in business activity since November 2018. In contrast to the overall trend for construction output, civil engineering activity fell again during February. However, the rate of decline was only marginal and the least marked for 13 months.