The delivery of building materials rallied at the start of this year on the back of new housing starts although levels remain subdued compared with recent years, according to the latest analysis.
Official figures showed brick deliveries increased by 8.5 per cent in January compared with the same month in 2024, while deliveries of concrete blocks rose by 4.2 per cent on the same basis.
The Department for Business and Trade data also indicated a 1 per cent increase in construction material imports during 2024, while exports dipped by 0.4 per cent.
Rebecca Larkin, head of construction research at the Construction Products Association, said that the increase in brick deliveries was strongly linked to the revival in new housing starts.
“Given that housing activity reached its nadir at the end of 2023 and start of 2024, the pickup in brick deliveries this January is not surprising as activity slowly began to return to site and housebuilders are cautiously turning to starts in readiness for demand picking back up throughout the year,” she said.
However, despite January’s increase, deliveries were still substantially lower than in recent years, she noted.
Data intelligence provider Glenigan reported last month that the value of public and private residential starts was more than a tenth lower than in January 2024.
“Excluding the pandemic lockdowns, deliveries are around the levels they were in the financial crisis because there have been sharp falls in housing starts and housebuilding over the past couple of years,” Larkin said.
“As we come into the spring selling season, housebuilders will get a stronger gauge on the strength of demand in the housing market after the increase in uncertainty since the upward blip in mortgage rates towards the end of 2024.”
Demand for brick deliveries – reflecting the pace of housebuilding starts – would be dependent on how mortgage rate movements affected buyer confidence, said Larkin.
Find the latest materials data and insight at CN Intelligence.
Export of construction materials decreased by £38m, or 0.4 per cent, in 2024 compared with the year before.
That was despite an increase of £42m, or 2 per cent, in exports in the final quarter of last year on the previous three months.
The top five exported construction-related materials last year from the UK were electrical wires – worth just over £1bn – paints and varnishes, lamps and fittings, builders’ ironmongery and air conditioning equipment.
The import of materials rose by £221m, or 1 per cent, in 2024 on the previous year.
However, the last quarter of 2024 saw imports fall by £187m, or 3.2 per cent, on the quarter before.
With trade to and from the EU declining in 2024, the UK’s top export market for materials was Ireland (£1.56bn), followed by the US (£1.04bn) and Germany (£742m).
The biggest proportion of imports came from China (18 per cent or £4.19bn of the total).
Meanwhile, there were positive signs in the latest Builders Merchants Building Index, released today (5 March), despite a fall in total value sales during the final quarter of 2024.
The quarterly index showed total volume sales increased by 2.3 per cent between October and December 2024 compared with the same period the previous year.
John Newcomb, chief executive of the Builders Merchants Federation, said the figures provided grounds for cautious optimism.
“After two pretty tough years, I remain cautious about overstating prospects for the coming year, but one or two encouraging signs are now emerging in our sales data,” he said.
“With interest rates gradually coming down and consumer confidence improving, we should be preparing for growth in the second half of 2025.”
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Kerry Lorimer