Builders' merchants鈥� sales bounced back strongly in the three months May to July, surging 38.9% ahead in value compared with February to April.
Sales of landscaping material more than doubled (up 130% over the three-month period). Timber & Joinery Products followed, rising 44%. Heavy Building Materials sales were up 36%.
In July 2020 sales of building materials were only 1.3% below July 2019 and some categories were ahead. Month-on-month, July sales were up 8.7% on June 2020.
鈥淭hese sales figures demonstrate the resilience and strength of a V-shaped recovery in the sector,鈥� said Mike Rigby, chief executive of MRA Research which produces the monthly Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) reports.
鈥淏uilders鈥� merchants sell to a variety of markets, including new build, but their customers 鈥� general builders, developers, and other trades 鈥� are the backbone of the housing RMI [repair maintenance and improvement] market. The ONS [Office for National Statistics] provisional estimates for the same three months, May to July, are seemingly at odds with these figures, putting overall construction down 10.6%, with RMI falling 12.4% and private housing RMI dropping by 17.9%.
鈥淏ut a note of caution: we鈥檙e not comparing apples with apples鈥�, he continued. 鈥淥NS numbers are provisional estimates based on a sample survey, and as more information comes in the estimates are revised. However, GfK鈥檚 builders鈥� merchant point of sale tracking data, on which the Builders Merchant Building Index is based, is different. It鈥檚 not a sample survey and it鈥檚 much more focused. It doesn鈥檛 include every element of housing RMI, but it includes the bulk of it and it鈥檚 a very good proxy for repair, maintenance and improvement. The data is actual value sales out to builders from generalist builders鈥� merchants, accounting for over 80% of total sales from builders merchants throughout Great Britain. It鈥檚 also validated before publishing, so it doesn鈥檛 get revised.鈥�
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