Glenigan | Powered by Hubexo (Glenigan), one of the construction industry’s leading insight and intelligence experts, releases the December 2025 edition of its Construction Review.
The Review focuses on the three months to the end of November 2025, covering all major (>£100m) and underlying (<£100m) projects, with all underlying figures seasonally adjusted.
It’s a report providing a detailed and comprehensive analysis of year-on-year construction data, giving built environment professionals a unique insight into sector performance over the past year.
The December Review indicates that UK construction is starting to take slow steps along the road to recovery, reflecting predictions Glenigan recently made in its latest industry Forecast.
Despite starting out from a lower position than December 2024, with project start performance considerably down (-29%), a 14% increase compared to the previous three months to the end of November will provide some festive cheer to counter any new year fears. The news will come as a relief to contractors and subcontractors alike, following a torrid six months punctuated by policy flip-flopping and a case of acute socio-economic hiccups.
This small glimmer of hope should be approached with cautious optimism as elsewhere the project pipeline remains considerably dry. Main contract awards fell by a quarter (-26%) year-on-year and dropped by 10% during the Review Period. Similarly, detailed planning approvals were down by 9% against the preceding three months and by 26% compared with 2024 figures.
According to Glenigan’s Economics Director, Allan Wilen, “The currently tempestuous economic conditions are making it difficult for the construction sector to get out of first gear, where it seems to have been stuck throughout the second half of 2025. Hopefully the Chancellor’s recent Budget Statement will have gone some way to providing clarity around future funding, ending a period of weathervane politics in which potential property and tax policies were floated across the market, denting both consumer and private investor confidence. Now we know the intended direction of travel, hopefully the industry can get back on track.”
He continues, “However, it’s not going to be an easy task, requiring a considerable amount of work commencing, contracts awarded, and planning approvals rubber-stamped before the end of this financial year if our predicted recovery is going to come to fruition. In the here and now though, this revival probably seems far on the horizon with performance remaining depressed. A modest lift in starts activity over the Review Period has been largely driven by an extraordinary surge in underlying office construction. Elsewhere, minimum wage increases are driving up retailing and hospitality labour costs. This has led to pauses and delays as businesses look to rebalance budgets and re-evaluate resources, deterring investment in retail and hotel & leisure projects. As we look ahead to Q.1 2026, the Chancellor will need to make good on her £120 billion infrastructure pledge, putting the pedal to the metal to get the sector motoring once more.”
In a bleak midwinter for most of the industry, the offices vertical has basked in the warming afterburn of skyrocketing performance.
Activity is incredibly healthy with a 161% increase in project starts, as well as a 60% rise in detailed planning approvals year-on-year.
This growth can be attributed to a number of different factors, including the insatiable demand for data centres (grouped within the office vertical), responding to consumer and businesses’ ravenous appetite for digital technology and a growing reliance on AI.
Regionally, the East Midlands, London, the North East and the South East experienced a strong period of growth. The Capital posted the highest share of project starts during the Review Period (+80%), largely thanks to a 184% starts increase boosted by the £800 million Project Vista Development in Lambeth.
Wales was responsible for the impressive leap in planning approvals, with the value of consents jumping more than 40 times year-on-year. This was predominantly the result of the green light being given to a £5 billion CWL41 data centre development in Bridgend.
A growing sense of community
The community and amenity vertical also experienced an exceptionally robust Review Period, with project starts and main contract awards up year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter to boot. That wasn’t all, detailed planning approvals grew in the preceding three months and were only 1% lower than 2024 figures.
Major projects had a relatively sunny season with increases recorded across all three contract stages compared to last year and the previous three months. This growth spurt was mainly driven by a 198% year-on-year growth in the prisons sub-category, particularly the £713 million HMP Welland Oaks in Leicestershire. Unsurprisingly, this also meant that, regionally, the East Midlands accounted for the highest share of project starts in this vertical.
London and the South East also showed impressive scores, once again spurred by penal facilities development, especially the £300 million HMP Grendon Underwood development in Aylesbury.
Preparing for a civils ceremony
Whilst civils experienced significant declines in main contract awards during the Review Period (-64%) compared to the prior three months, with the value of detailed planning approvals slashed in half compared to last year (-50%), it witnessed a major boost in project starts (up 118% against the preceding three months).
The 2025 Autumn Budget provided a much-anticipated shot in the arm for civil engineering, with expanded regional infrastructure and accelerated transport investment earmarked by the Chancellor. The devolved £13 billion for the metro mayors will be welcomed across all quarters of the vertical, alongside more capital allocation for highways maintenance. This will likely strengthen activity for local road, transport, and utility projects, sparking the future growth Glenigan has predicted in 2026 and 2027.
Roads, energy, and harbour/ports accounted for the lion’s share of activity, with performance in the latter up a dizzying 267% year-on-year. Regionally, the East of England was the most active, project-starts wise. London also posted strong numbers too. In terms of planning approvals, the East Midlands led the pack, registering a whopping 345% increase in consents.
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