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GEORGE OSBORNE’S boasts that he is leading Britain to a building boom were dealt a blow yesterday by a sharp slump in construction.
The Chancellor repeatedly claimed “we are the builders” in his speech at last year’s Tory conference and promised the biggest house building programme since the 1970s.
But construction output fell by a shocking 3.6 per cent between March and February due to declines in both new work being carried out and existing maintenance activity, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The figures far exceeded a 3.2 per cent fall that most economists had predicted.
And it marked the third consecutive decline in month-on-month construction output — the first such run since the monthly series started in 2010.
The ONS also revised down its estimate for output in the first three months of this year from a 0.9 per cent to 1.1 per cent amid falls in infrastructure projects.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: “It is deeply disappointing that despite George Osborne’s rhetoric on construction the industry shrank by 1.1 per cent in the first quarter of the year.
“This is further evidence that Osborne’s recovery is one built on sand.
“These figures should be a wake-up call as to the urgent need for long-term, patient investment in skills, infrastructure and technology; otherwise our unbalanced economy will continue to be a risk to Britain’s prosperity.”
