The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report reveals builders鈥� merchants鈥� takings in the fourth quarter of 2025 were 1.2% lower than in Q4 2024, while volume sales were down 2.9%.
(With the number of trading days in Q4 2025 the same as in 2024, the comparison is like-for-like.)
Prices in Q4 2025 were 1.8% higher than in Q4 2024.
Comparing Q4 2025 with Q3, average daily takings were down 9.0% and daily volumes down 13.1%. With four fewer trading days in Q4, total takings were down 14.6%, and volumes by 18.5%. Prices were 4.8% in Q4 than Q3.
December 2025 takings were down 2.5% year-on-year, on a like-for-like basis, while volume sales decreased by 5.8%. With one additional trading day in December 2025, unadjusted total takings were up by 3.3% year-on-year but volumes were 0.3% lower, with prices up by 3.6%.
Month-on-month, December鈥檚 average daily takings were 18.2% down on November, with volumes down 20.6%. With two fewer trading days in December, total takings were down by 26.3% and volumes by 28.5%; prices were up 3.1%.
Across 2025 as a whole, takings through the tills of the nation鈥檚 builders鈥� merchants were just 0.5% up on 2024 while volume sales increased by 1.5%. With one less trading day in 2025, average daily takings were 0.9% higher in 2025 and volumes up +1.9% while prices eased -1.0%.
John Newcomb, chief executive of the Builders Merchant Federation, said: 鈥淧roviding building materials for housing 鈥� whether for new builds or RMI 鈥� is a central aspect of our sector, but with fewer people moving home or entering the housing market, demand across the supply chain remains subdued. It is difficult to foresee significant growth in these markets without a return of consumer confidence, which government support for first-time buyers could help foster. Unfortunately, a new factor has now emerged, as the Middle Eastern conflict is almost certain to cause higher inflation, delaying a previously expected interest rate cut.鈥�
Mike Rigby of MRA Research, who produces the BMBI report for the Builders Merchant Federation, said: 鈥淭he UK economy grew by just 0.1% in Q4 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, as business and consumer confidence nosedived ahead of the autumn budget, ensuring a subdued end to the year. But ONS鈥檚 construction output data recorded a bleaker and more disappointing end for construction with Q4 output shrinking 2.1% compared to Q3. Private new housing (-3.6%) the main negative contributor.
鈥淭he Construction Products Association (CPA) duly downgraded its forecast construction output for 2026 from +2.8% to +1.7% and downgraded its forecast for private housebuilding from +4.0% to +1.5%. Private housing RMI was revised down to -1.0%.
鈥淲ith unemployment (5.2%) climbing to its highest rate in five years (16.1% for 16-24-year-olds 鈥� the highest in 10 years), and a new year which has seen both non-stop political crisis and rain every day, the prime minister has likely reached saturation point for just about everything.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not all bad news. Inflation, measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), rose by 3.0% in the 12 months to January 2026, down from 3.4% in the 12 months to December 2025, and some economists are forecasting a fall to the Bank of England鈥檚 target rate of +2% sometime this year. That could encourage the Bank to cut interest rates more often and by more than expected, which could encourage investor, business and consumer spending.鈥�
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