Community & Amenity

Community & Amenity

Community & Amenity – Overview

Despite a fall against the preceding year, the value of main contract awards remained sharply up on the preceding quarter. Project-starts and detailed planning approvals also experienced growth against both the previous three months and last year.

Community & amenity work starting on-site totalled £731 million during the first quarter of 2023, a 32% increase compared with the preceding three months, and 35% up on the previous year. Major project-starts (£100 million or more), totalling £425 million, grew 52% against the previous quarter and doubled on the previous year. In contrast, underlying project-starts (less than £100 million in value) fell 5% against the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis to stand 19% down against last year’s levels, with a total value of £306 million.

Community & amenity main contract awards, adding up to £578 million, experienced triple-digit growth (+259%) against the preceding quarter but stood one-third down on the previous year. Underlying contract awards performed particularly strongly, increasing 136% against the preceding quarter (SA) to stand 21% up on 2022 levels.  Major project contract awards totalled £135 million, an increase on the preceding quarter where no major projects reached the main contract awarded stage, but a 72% decrease on 2022 levels.

Detailed planning approvals quadrupled against the previous three months and increased 7% against the previous year to total £747 million. This growth was due to the major approvals climbing 20% against last year as well as being up on the previous quarter when there were no approvals, to total £500 million. Underlying project approvals fell 5% (SA) on the preceding three months and 12% against a year ago to total £247 million.

Community & Amenity – Types of Projects Started

Totalling £425 million, law courts was the segment with the highest proportion (58%) of community & amenity project-starts. The value of law court project-starts jumped more than 20 times, solely due to the commencement of the £425 million Salisbury Square Development courtroom and police headquarters in London (Project ID: 17375364).

Prison projects worth £118 million started on-site during the three months to March, two times higher than the same period last year, to account for 16% of sector starts. Military, totalling £13 million, also doubled compared with last year, but only accounted for 2% of the sector.

Blue light and local facilities each accounted for 11%, with the former having grown 51% on a year ago to total £80 million and the latter being 39% down to total £81 million. Government buildings experienced the sharpest decline, slipping back 95% to total £13 million, a 2% share of the sector. Finally, places of worship project-starts added up to just £2 million after dropping 94% compared with last year.

Regional Analysis – Project-Starts

London dominated community & amenity starts, accounting for 61% of work starting on-site at £449 million, which is 90% higher than a year ago, boosted by the £425 million Salisbury Square Development (Project ID: 22009764). The West Midlands accounted for the second greatest proportion (16%) of sector starts and jumped almost 20 times against the previous year to total £116 million. The value was boosted by the commencement of a £95 million prison expansion project in Rugby (Project ID: 19039813).

However, the North West experienced a decline of 35% against the previous year to total £29 million, accounting for a 4% share of starts. Scotland and the South East also fell 24% and 58% respectively on last year’s levels, to account for just 3% of the sector. Yorkshire & the Humber experienced the steepest decrease at 83% compared with last year’s level, bringing the total value down to £11 million. As a result, project-starts in the region only accounted for a 2% share.

Community & amenity Project-Starts during the three months to March 2023

 Regional Analysis – Detailed Planning Approvals

At £546 million, London dominated Community & Amenity detailed planning approvals. Accounting for a 73% share, the value of approvals jumped more than 70 times. However, this was solely due to the approval of the £500 million British Library extension project (Project ID: 15291949). Totalling £41 million, approvals in Yorkshire & the Humber grew 52% against the previous year, accounting for a 5% share of the sector. The South East also performed well, having increased 91% on the preceding year’s levels to total £31 million, even though it only accounted for 4% of the total value. The North West experienced the sharpest growth, having doubled on 2022 levels to total £23 million.

In contrast, approvals in the East Midlands slipped back 83% to total £53 million, a 7% share of the sector, despite it being the second most active region. At £10 million, the South West experienced the steepest decline, having fallen 91% on a year ago. Approvals in the East of England were also 90% behind compared with the previous year, adding up to £11 million. Unlike the first quarter of 2022 there were no project approvals in Wales.

Community & Amenity Detailed Planning Approvals during the three months to March 2023

Forecast Construction-Starts for Community & Amenity

Note: Underlying projects are schemes with a construction value of £250,000 to £100 million.  Forecast updated in April 2023 p – provisional, f – forecast.
Source: Glenigan