Construction materials prices have increased significantly over the past year, with the increases affecting all sectors of the industry.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Construction Material Price Index for all work shows annual inflation to February 2017 of 6.1%.
Prices were falling month on month until January 2016 but have been rising steadily ever since, rising 3.9% in the six months since August 2016 — how much of this increase is down to the fall in the value of sterling is not clear.
The broad sectors of the industry all show significant rises in the year to February 2017:
- New housing 5.3%
- Other new work 6.0%
- Repair and maintenance 6.6%
- All work 6.1%
BCIS produce these indices, which measure overall trends in construction materials prices, for BEIS who also produce indices that track specific materials groups. Those indices are published in the BEIS Monthly Statistics of Building Materials and Components, which can be found on the BEIS website.
The all-work and broad-sector indices are published in the ‘Indices’ section under ‘Resource Indices’ in the BCIS Online, BCIS Building Running Costs Online and BCIS Housing Online services.
[SOURCE: RICS]
