IN Brief:
- UK construction material prices for all work rose 2.0% year on year in January 2026, with stronger inflation in housing and repair and maintenance.
- Brick and block deliveries remained weak, while ready-mixed concrete deliveries and sand and gravel sales hit historic lows in 2025.
- The combination of rising costs and subdued volumes points to a supply chain still under strain rather than one returning to normal utilisation.
UK construction material costs started 2026 on an upward track, even as the core volume indicators behind site activity remained weak. Provisional Department for Business and Trade data show the all-work construction materials index rose 2.0% in the 12 months to January 2026, with new housing up 4.0%, repair and maintenance up 3.7%, and other new work up 0.2%.
The figures matter partly because they follow the return of official publication after a long pause. Construction material price indices were not published between February and December 2025 while an ONS methodology error affecting producer and services producer price data was corrected. January’s release, published in early March, therefore provides the first refreshed official view of material pricing at the start of the year.
Within the detail, inflation was uneven. Electric water heaters recorded a 6.9% annual increase, while gravel, sand, clays, and kaolin including Aggregate Levy rose 6.6%. Concrete reinforcing bars, by contrast, fell 6.6% year on year. The spread suggests that energy exposure, mineral extraction costs, import conditions, and project mix are not moving in lockstep across the market.
Volumes continue to tell a weaker story. Seasonally adjusted brick deliveries in Great Britain were down 2.5% year on year in January and 24.8% below January 2021 levels, even as stocks rose to 547.7 million. Concrete block deliveries were down 5.7% year on year and 27.0% below January 2021, with stocks reaching 9.3 million square metres’ worth. Over 2025 as a whole, ready-mixed concrete deliveries fell to 11 million cubic metres, the lowest figure in the published series, while annual sand and gravel sales also reached a record low.
That lines up with Mineral Products Association data showing 2025 was the fourth consecutive year of decline for key materials demand, including concrete, aggregates, and asphalt. For project delivery, that leaves an awkward mix: input costs are still edging up, but domestic output and dispatch volumes suggest a supply base operating well below healthy utilisation. The next few releases will show whether energy volatility and shipping disruption add another layer of inflation, or whether the larger story remains one of weak demand.
