BMF says ‘it’s difficult to envisage a significant upturn in the coming year without government action’

Builders merchants sales fell by more than 3% in the first three months of the year, according to new data.

Sales were down 3.2% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The figures, released by the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), said that average prices during the period were up by 5.7%.

The BMF said: “With construction output weakening, particularly in private housing, merchants have reported falling sales in the first quarter of the year.

merchants

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Wet weather, a stalled housing market and the Iran war all helped dent sales in the first quarter, the BMF said

“The impact could already be seen before the start of the conflict in Iran in March, and the knock-on effect this has had on oil prices, associated energy costs and anticipated inflationary increases, with construction work slowed by wet weather in January and February.”

It said Heavy Building Materials, the largest of 12 product categories, said sales were down 11.9% during the period while landscaping was down 7%.

But other product categories fared better with timber and joinery inching up 0.9% while among several smaller categories, renewable and water saving saw a growth of 14.3%.

BMF chief executive John Newcomb admitted: “It is difficult to envisage a significant upturn in the coming year without government action to speed up planning and provide incentives to unlock the housing market.”