Be cautious using ONS construction output data, as the ONS appears to have been overestimating output since 2022. As the CPA has frequently highlighted, the ONS problems appear to affect all sectors but especially rm&i. The problems appear to be for at least two reasons: it appears to underestimate costs, so when removing price from its value data, it overestimates volume. Also, it may have survivor bias in its contractor survey when grossing up to the whole industry due to a rise in insolvencies. NOTE (February 2026): the ONS has also reported a separate substantial error in its historical data for public housing output. Construction output in June was 0.1% lower than in May and 2.3% lower than a year earlier, according to the ONS.

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