Tender prices rose by 6.4 percent in Q4 2012, compared with the previous quarter, and by 4.0 percent compared with the same quarter in 2011, according to the latest figures from the UK construction Tender Price Index compiled by RICS' Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).

Spending on private housing repair and maintenance fell by 7.5 percent in the three months to April, compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Making energy-saving improvements to your property could increase its value by 14 percent on average, and up to 38 percent in some parts of England, according to new research released by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC).

The amount of homes sold in the UK over the past three months reached its highest level since January 2010 as buyers across the country began to return to the market, says the latest RICS residential market survey (11 June 2013).

Construction new orders for the first quarter of 2013, released last week by the ONS, fell 10 percent compared to the fourth quarter and were 0.2 percent lower than the same quarter one year earlier.

May showed a rebound in output levels and intake of new work across the UK construction sector, according to data from the Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

Overall market conditions for the UK show welcome signs of improvement, according to data collated in the Q1 Move with Us Residential Market Review.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, has commented on the latest government housebuilding figures.

The recent report from The National House-Building Council (NHBC) has shown that the number of new homes being planned in 2013 has risen by 22 percent against the same period last year.

In an interim statement, Travis Perkins has reported a 1.2 percent decrease in revenue for the four-month period ending April 2013 compared to the same period last year. Like-for-like sales were 1.8 percent lower.

Balfour Beatty’s UK construction arm reported a 23 percent fall in revenue in the first four months of 2013.

Grafton Group reported turnover for the four months to the end of April of EUR677m, up EUR1m on the same period last year. Trading for the period was influenced by poor weather and continued weakness in the merchant’s markets.

A spokesman from one of the UK's leading manufacturers of heating and hot water technologies has expressed concern over the latest MCS registration figures released by DECC.

The latest Construction Trade Survey, published today (13 May), shows that activity in the majority of the construction industry fell during the first quarter of 2013 with the impacts of falling demand exacerbated by the impacts of poor weather.

Housebuilder Barratt has said that sales per site are up 18 percent year-on-year in the period since the Government’s announcement of Help to Buy.

Galliford Try has reported house sales up 8 percent to £836m on the previous year in an interim statement for January to May.

Kingspan reported sales up 10 percent to EUR520m during the first four months of the year.

The Glenigan Index, a UK barometer of construction starts, has shown another monthly drop in new building projects. For the last three months (February, March and April), figures have fallen by 7 percent compared to 2012.

A report commissioned by the Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) has found supply chain failings within UK business, which hamper organisational effectiveness, damage competitiveness and restrict growth.

The idea of construction activity to many lies in London and the South East. However, in Building’s ‘Regional Construction Trends’ White Paper, the true picture is revealed as more complex.

Recent GDP figures published by ONS show that the UK economy grew by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous quarter, and was up 0.6 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Construction fared much worse, declining by 2.5 percent quarter-on-quarter and 5.9 percent year-on-year.

Last quarter, 10 percent more surveyors across the country reported rising workloads in the construction sector than at any other time since the end of 2007, the latest RICS survey has reported.

Almost a third of Britain’s small building firms have shed staff since the turn of the year, according to new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Construction output is predicted to grow next year according to the latest forecasts by the Construction Products Association – however, output is set to fall by more than 2 percent this year. This follows an 8 percent contraction in 2012.

The latest figures from ONS indicate a pick-up in February as the construction industry recovered from the poor weather experienced in January. Overall, construction output in February was 5.5 percent higher than in January but 7 percent lower than it was one year ago.

The amount of homes sold in the UK reached a three-year high during March as increased confidence in the market translated into sales, the latest RICS housing market survey has indicated today (9 April).

The Construction Products Association’s latest State of Trade Survey indicates that sales of construction products fell during the first three months of 2013 with poor weather exacerbating conditions for the industry.

Bathroom and kitchen firm Betta Living reported sales up 22 percent to £29.9m in the year ending November 30. Pre-tax profits were up 44 percent to £1.5m, boosted by a rise in web sales.

The latest Markit/CIPS purchasing managers index (PMI) recorded a reading of 47.2 last month for construction output – below the 50 mark which separates contraction from expansion.

Screwfix has revealed details of its successful year, bucking the retail downward trend.

The construction industry remained in recession in Q3 2012 and tender prices fell by 1.3 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the UK construction Tender Price Index compiled by The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Merchant share values have risen following Budget measures to boost housing.

According to Stewart Baseley, executive chair of the Home Builders Federation, the newbuild housing market looks to have hit a turning point.

The number of independent tradespeople such as plumbers and bricklayers has fallen in recent years, showing a "worrying" decline for the country, according to a new study.

The latest figures from ONS published Friday last week show that construction output fell sharply in January, with falls across almost every sector of the £100bn industry. Overall, construction output in January was 6.3 percent lower than in December and 7.9 percent lower than it was one year ago.

Recent QBE research showed that 86 percent of building and construction firms expect no recovery within two years, and 80 percent believe recovery will take three years or more.

The Scottish Government was recently urged to work with the property industry to unlock its potential for economic growth, as new data revealed the value of commercial property sales have fallen by over 80 percent since the start of the economic crisis.

Construction orders for the final quarter of 2012 are up. Orders rose for the second consecutive quarter at the end of 2012 but are still down 38 percent on their 2007 peak, the latest Office for National Statistics figures show.

Construction new orders for the final quarter of 2012, released recently by the ONS, rose three percent compared to the third quarter and were 11 percent higher than the same quarter one year earlier. Although new orders remain at historic lows, this is a second consecutive quarter of growth and potentially provides positive signs for the industry going forward.

The number of housing starts fell below 100,000 last year, 11% down on the previous year, and less than two fifths the number needed to meet demand.

The latest total volume of construction output figures released in January 2013 by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) for November 2012 were estimated to have been 9.8% lower than in November 2011. According to the Construction Products Association (CPA), dark times remain ahead. They are forecasting that construction output will fall by more than 2% in 2013.

The latest sales indicators from the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) show that sales of building materials nationally, when adjusted for both inflation and trading day differences, fell by 16.7% in Q4 (October to December 2012) compared with the preceding Quarter (July to September 2012). However, sales in Q4 2012 were 2.1% up on sales in Q4 2011.

The number of housing transactions continues to grow across the UK property market, says the latest RICS housing market survey (12 February 2013).

Figures for construction output in fourth quarter have been revised slightly upwards but although the volume of new work grew, that for repair and maintenance fell.

This year is expected to be a "turning point" for the sector, says Graham Robinson at law firm Pinsent Masons. But he warns that although the start of "recovery from a deep recession" for the construction sector was likely in 2013, that return to pre-crisis levels of activity is unlikely.

UK: The recession has cost the UK builders' merchants industry £3.9bn in lost profit in the last year, according to new research by market analysts, Plimsoll.