Roofing Sector Outlook for 2019
A Happy New Year to all of our readers!
As the brand new year begins, here at D-marc we’re going to take a look at some of the predictions for the construction industry, particularly the roofing sector, in 2019. Why not follow us throughout the year on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with all the news and developments that affect the roofing industry here in the UK?
Growth in the UK’s construction sector for the coming year has been downgraded, partly due to the ongoing uncertainty about Brexit and partly due to delays in the delivery of major infrastructure projects. This prediction for the construction industry as a whole is likely to impact on the roofing sector too. While construction activity continues to increase in some sectors (such as housebuilding, particularly in specific regions in the North), this growth is dependent upon house building outside the London area and may not be typical of Britain as a whole. The sooner we have more definite information on what Brexit will actually look like, the sooner we can adjust forecasts with the detailed information necessary to offer more accuracy on this issue.
Britain’s domestic market for garden structures and buildings has seen steady growth in recent years due to a high dependency on replacement purchases and an impressive level of consumer confidence. Within the domestic garden buildings market, the need for sheds and greenhouses is well established. However, in recent years we’ve seen an increased demand for other types of garden buildings, such as garden rooms, and other rooms that are suitable for multi-purpose activities, such as leisure, study/office accommodation and hobby spaces. These types of building all necessitate a higher level of specification than the average garden shed and this increases the demand for flat roofs that feature insulation to ensure that the space is damp-proof and usable all year round.
The roofing sector itself will need to remain flexible as innovation in production technologies results in the improvement in or development of new materials. Digital technology will continue to shape our industry for the future, making the roofing industry safer with a decrease in the requirement to work at height, thanks to the impact of drone technology. Drones are increasingly being used in the roofing sector to undertake roof inspections, making them cheaper and quicker to carry out than ever before.
The skills shortage continues to trouble the roofing sector and it’s becoming more evident that this is likely to get worse once the UK has divorced itself from the European Union. As we’re still uncertain about what Brexit will look like, industry leaders are calling on the government to reduce the barriers to entry for the European nationals on whom the construction industry has relied for so many years.
As always, we’ll be covering all of the news and developments that affect our industry in 2019, with regular monthly news roundups to keep our readers fully informed on the current state of our sector. If you don’t want to miss out on the news and views that shape our industry, follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get a notification each time our News articles are published.