By Ian McConnell

UK construction activity plummeted in April at by far the fastest pace since records began, amid the coronavirus crisis, a survey shows.

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The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply’s seasonally adjusted construction activity index fell from an already-lowly 39.3 in March to just 8.2 in April amid site closures. This is the weakest reading since records began in 1997 and way adrift of the previous low of 27.8 in February 2009.

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Around 86 per cent of respondents reported a decline in activity and only 3% recorded a rise.

The three sub-sectors in the survey, housebuilding, commercial property construction and civil engineering, all recorded precipitous falls in output. The drop in civil engineering was the least-steep even though this sub-sector’s activity index dropped to just 14.6.