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UK economy grows by 0.6% as construction industry enjoys record boom

Lottie Casas September 10, 2018

Britain’s economy grows by 0.6% as construction industry enjoys record boom

Britain’s economy grows by 0.6% as warm weather and a housebuilding spree helps the construction sector enjoy its biggest boom since records began in 1997

  • Britain’s GDP grew by 0.6% in the three months to July and 0.3% in July alone 
  • Construction enjoyed a boom driven by stronger house building growth 
  • The news will be hailed by minsters who have pledged to build more homes  

Britain’s economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the past quarter – driven by a boom in construction, figures today reveal.

After a sluggish start to the year, the building industry saw output soar in July to its highest levels since records began in 1997.

This was driven by warm weather and a boom in housebuilding, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.  

Rob Kent Smith, from the ONS, said: ‘Growth in the economy picked up in the three months to July. Services grew particularly strongly, with retail sales performing well, boosted by warm weather and the World Cup. 

‘The construction sector also bounced back after a weak start to the year.

‘However, production fell back, with manufacturing again slipping a little while energy generation and supply fell due to reduced demand.’

Britain’s GDP jumped by 0.6 per cent in the three months to July this year – a big increase on previous quarters, the Office for National Statistics said 


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He added: ‘The dominant service sector again led economic growth in the month of July with engineers, accountants and lawyers all enjoying a busy period, backed up by growth in construction, which hit another record high level.’

The figures show that Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6 per cent in the three months to July – increasing by 0.3 per cent in July alone.

The driving force of this growth is in the construction industry – which grew by 0.5 per cent in July and 3.3 per cent over the three months.

The ONS said: ‘This was largely driven by stronger than usual growth in house building for this time of year. Construction output reached a record high level in July.’

This is good news for Theresa May’s government, which has repeatedly promised to get Britain building but faced criticism for failing to put up enough homes.

Sky-high house prices means that many people, particularly younger Britons, cannot afford to get on the housing ladder.

The figures also show that the services industries grew by 0.6 per cent in the three months to July, while retail trade grew by 2.1 per cent and wholesale trade by 1.6 per cent.

James Brokenshire, Secretary of State for Housing, will hail the figures today as they show that house-building is finally picking up amid widespread criticism that a shortage of new homes means any are finding it impossible to get on the housing ladder

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