Building trade sees jump in activity

Output in Britain’s construction industry made a rebound last month, as a jump in housebuilding helped drive overall activity to a 17-month high.

The latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 56.0 in May, significantly above economists’ expectations of 52.6.

The report found housebuilding had a stand out performance over the period, expanding at its fastest pace since December 2015 and bouncing back from a seven-month low in March.

New business was also ahead, while the number of new jobs accelerated for the second month on the bounce.

Despite sterling’s weakness, input prices for construction firms rose at the slowest pace for seven months.

IHS Markit senior economist Tim Moore said the sector was recovering strongly after a sluggish start to the year.

He said: “House building was the key growth driver, with work on residential projects rising at the fastest pace since December 2015.”

Stephen Profili, regional managing director for construction firm Lovell in Scotland, said : “The residential sector of the industry is continuing to perform strongly and this is reflected in these latest figures and the broad range of projects Lovell is currently working on in Scotland.

“Increasing costs due to the ongoing weakness of the pound are having an impact but not enough to dampen the generally buoyant housebuilding sector.”