Main contract awards decreased against both last year and the previous three months. More positively, detailed planning approvals grew on the preceding quarter and a year ago, providing a boost to the development pipeline.
Health overview
Adding up to £770m, underlying health work starting on site (less than £100m in value) during the three months to February grew 24 per cent against the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis to stand 19 per cent up against the previous year. Major projects (£100m or more) starting on site totalled £105m, a 77 per cent decline against the previous quarter and 11 per cent lower than last year. Overall, health starts slipped back 28 per cent against the previous quarter but increased 14 per cent on a year ago, totalling £875m.
Totalling £732m, health main contract awards were down 8 per cent against the preceding three months and 38 per cent down against a year ago. Major projects totalled £120m, up on the preceding three months where there were no major projects, but down 73 per cent against the previous year. Underlying contract awards experienced a poor performance, decreasing 29 per cent against the preceding three months (SA) to stand 17 per cent down against the previous year.
Detailed planning approvals, totalling £1.581bn, increased 13 per cent against the preceding quarter and grew 31 per cent on the previous year. Major project approvals, totalling £477m, slipped back 22 per cent against the previous quarter but increased 298 per cent against last year. Underlying approvals, at £1.104bn, experienced a 22 per cent increase (SA) compared with the preceding three months to stand 1 per cent up on a year ago.
Types of projects started
Hospitals accounted for 44 per cent of health work starting on site during the three months to February, with the value having increased 16 per cent against the previous year’s levels to total £276m.
Accounting for 23 per cent of health projects starting on-site, dental, health, and veterinary centres tripled on a year ago to total £198m. Nursing home project-starts, accounting for 17 per cent of the sector, grew 4 per cent compared with the previous year to total £140m. In contrast, day centres slipped back 59 per cent to total just £1m, accounting for less than 1 per cent of health starts during the period.
Regional
Totalling £201m, the East of England was the most active region for health project-starts during the three months to February, having more than doubled against the previous year to account for 23 per cent of sector starts. At £154m, the East Midlands accounted for an 18 per cent share. The value of the projects starting on-site in the region also jumped 178 per cent compared with last year’s levels, mainly thanks to the £105m National Rehabilitation Centre development in Loughborough.
Health starts in the South West accounted for 14 per cent and increased 22 per cent compared with the previous year’s levels, totalling £123m. Accounting for 9 per cent, Yorkshire & the Humber also experienced a strong period in health starts, having grown 158 per cent on a year ago to total £82m. In contrast, accounting for a 16 per cent share, starts in the South East fell 35 per cent against the previous year to total £142m.
With a total value of £414m, London was the most active region for detailed planning approvals, having increased more than tenfold on a year ago to account for 26 per cent of the health sector. This growth was boosted by the £250m Whitechapel Life Sciences Cluster development. Approvals in the East of England nearly tripled compared with the previous year to total £362m, a 23 per cent share of health consents.
Accounting for a 10 per cent share, health approvals in the West Midlands grew 108 per cent against the previous year to total £155m. In contrast, accounting for 12 per cent of consents, project approvals in the South East were 52 per cent lower than last year to total £186m.
