Britain’s construction sector has entered the second half of 2025 with a sense of steady, if uneven, momentum. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that construction output continued to grow into the summer, reflecting the cumulative impact of infrastructure investment, ongoing housing maintenance activity and a gradual recovery in new work. In the three months to July 2025, total construction output rose by 0.6 per cent, underpinned by 1.0 per cent growth in new work and 0.1 per cent growth in repair and maintenance. While these headline numbers appear modest, the detail reveals how Britain’s builders, suppliers and consultants are adjusting to new standards, evolving demand and shifting economic conditions.
At the sector level, four of the nine main construction sectors posted growth over the three-month period. Two areas stood out in particular. Private housing repair and maintenance surged by 3.8 per cent, and infrastructure new work climbed by 2.1 per cent. Together, these gains offset softer or declining performance in other sectors, such as commercial new work and some public non-housing segments. Month on month, total construction output rose by 0.2 per cent in July 2025, after a 0.3 per cent increase in June. All of July’s uplift came from new work, which rose by 0.3 per cent, while repair and maintenance activity was unchanged at 0.0 per cent, underlining the importance of ongoing project starts and pipeline strength.
Behind these numbers is a story about how Britain’s construction market is evolving. The data highlight an industry leaning on infrastructure and maintenance as major sources of work, while new build housing and commercial projects continue to face headwinds. The figures also reflect seasonal adjustment as the ONS strips out calendar effects such as holiday shutdowns and are therefore designed to reveal underlying trends rather than one-off fluctuations.
This survey-based approach covers work done by building and civil engineering firms across Great Britain and excludes VAT and subcontractor payments. In July 2025, the turnover survey response rate reached 73.0 per cent, compared with 77.8 per cent in June and 76.5 per cent in May. High response rates help ensure data reliability and give confidence to analysts and businesses relying on the figures. The ONS has continued to withhold bias adjustments it previously applied to early estimates, instead monitoring the series during an ongoing review.
Another important dimension is price adjustment. The ONS now uses Construction Output Price Indices that incorporate the corrected Producer Price Indices and Services Producer Price Indices introduced in 2025. This is crucial in an environment where materials, energy and labour costs have shifted significantly since the pandemic and during the energy crisis. By adjusting for these changes, the data show the real growth in activity, rather than inflation-driven increases in turnover.
The rise in private housing maintenance stands out as a possible reflection of changing homeowner and landlord behaviour. With energy efficiency targets, retrofit incentives and the upcoming Future Homes Standard on the horizon, more investment is flowing into existing housing stock. This trend is supporting a broad ecosystem of trades and suppliers, from insulation and HVAC specialists to kitchen and bathroom fit-outs, and is reflected in the ONS figures as a 3.8 per cent jump over three months.
Infrastructure’s 2.1 per cent growth shows the continued weight of public and private investment in transport, utilities, energy and communications. Large scale infrastructure projects often anchor regional construction activity, feeding work to local contractors and subcontractors. For suppliers and consultants, infrastructure spending offers a pipeline of predictable, long-term work even when other areas are more volatile.
While repair and maintenance was flat in July itself, the longer-term trend shows resilience. ONS analysts noted that this segment can vary month to month depending on project timing, but the overall trajectory for 2025 remains positive. The stability of maintenance work also helps smooth the peaks and troughs experienced in new construction, offering contractors a steadier revenue stream.
This October, ONS will implement its Blue Book 2025 revisions in the construction data. This update will move the base year to 2023 and integrate new supply and use tables across the national accounts, providing a clearer benchmark for measuring construction output. Once incorporated, these changes will align construction output more closely with GDP and other economic statistics, allowing industry watchers to see more clearly how construction contributes to UK economic growth.
For construction professionals, these figures do more than fill a spreadsheet. They provide insight into where opportunities are emerging. A steady increase in infrastructure and maintenance work signals demand for project managers, engineers, suppliers and subcontractors in those sectors. Meanwhile, the softer performance in commercial and public non-housing work suggests caution or delayed investment in some areas.
The data also highlight the ongoing importance of compliance and methodology in producing reliable industry statistics. Seasonal adjustment, price index updates and response rate monitoring all underpin the credibility of the figures. For businesses making investment or hiring decisions based on these numbers, understanding how they are constructed can be as important as the headline percentages themselves.
Looking ahead, the shift toward sustainability, net zero commitments and the Future Homes Standard is likely to continue shaping the industry’s output profile. Housing retrofits, energy efficient upgrades, renewable energy infrastructure and smart technology integration all point toward an expanding maintenance and infrastructure market. Contractors, consultants and suppliers positioning themselves in these spaces may find steadier demand and greater resilience against market fluctuations.
For Design and Build UK readers, the ONS data offer a valuable lens on the sector’s current health and future direction. The figures show an industry adjusting to new realities: maintenance becoming more strategic, infrastructure remaining a backbone, and new work recovering gradually but unevenly. The regional breakdowns and subsector data, released alongside the headline figures, provide even more granular detail on where activity is concentrated.
The ONS also noted its efforts to improve data quality further, including using Barbour ABI new orders data to model subnational and subsector breakdowns. This level of detail matters for companies looking to plan regional expansion, bid for projects or allocate resources efficiently. By combining national trends with regional intelligence, businesses can better understand which areas of the UK are seeing the most robust growth and which segments are cooling.
Beyond the numbers, the story is about how construction is reshaping itself in the face of new pressures. Labour shortages, planning delays and input cost volatility remain challenges, but the steady rise in certain segments shows where the sector is finding stability. For suppliers and service providers, understanding this shift is crucial to aligning their offerings with market demand.
Ultimately, construction output data is more than an economic indicator. It is a map of how Britain is building, maintaining and upgrading its infrastructure and housing. In July 2025, that map points to a sector that is finding its footing, with infrastructure and maintenance leading the way, and new work gradually coming back to life. For those in the industry, from developers and contractors to consultants and product suppliers, the message is clear. There is opportunity in the steady, less headline-grabbing segments of the market. By recognising these patterns and planning accordingly, the construction community can position itself to thrive as the next wave of demand takes shape.
