Building activity on the rise

Commercial building activity rose in July according to the latest industry report.

The Total Commercial Activity Index, from property services firm Savills showed a rise to 58.2 from 56.2 in an index where anything above 50 represents an expanding market.

The growth, according to Savills is underpinned by an acceleration in public sector new builds which is currently making up for the decline in private sector developments – currently slower than at any time in the past six months.

However, the latest news from Britain’s second biggest housebuilder, Barratt Homes, appears to be good news for private as well as public sector construction.

The company, who recently acquired Wilson Bowden for £2.2bn, has reported good forward sales and said that it was currently on target to deliver pre-tax profits of more than £400m for the full year.