A surprise rebound in private housing work helped drive a 1% rise in construction output in February, offering a small boost for the market.

Latest ONS data shows the monthly increase was powered by a 4.3% jump in private housing new work, making it the biggest contributor to growth.

The uplift also reflected broader gains across the industry, with new work rising 1.0% and repair and maintenance up 0.9% on the month.

But the housing-led bounce was not enough to change the direction of travel with consultants warning global tensions will torpedo the fragile recovery.

Trend data shows that construction output still fell 2% in the three months to February 2026, marking the fifth consecutive decline in the rolling series.

The longer-term drop was driven by a 3.4% fall in new work, with private housing acting as the main drag, down 6.5% over the period.

Repair and maintenance showed no growth across the quarter, adding to the picture of a market lacking momentum.

Six of the nine construction sectors recorded declines over the three months, underlining the broad-based nature of the slowdown despite February’s improvement.

The figures suggest that while housing is beginning to show signs of life month-to-month, the recovery remains too shallow to offset earlier weakness.

Clive Docwra, managing director of property and construction consultancy McBains, said: “After new work fell by more than 3% in the three months to February, the industry will be encouraged that February saw an increase in new orders.

“But it’s a mixed bag – while private new housing work picked up more than we expected with growth of 4.3% in February, commercial orders were down 0.9% over the month.

“And despite the ceasefire in the Iran war, we shouldn’t fall into the trap of being over optimistic about the future.

“The impact of supply chain delays, rising manufacturing and transport costs, general inflationary pressures and costs of borrowing are progressively building in the market and it’s likely that these factors will have a deferred impact on tender prices and investor appetite for new opportunities.

“Ultimately, this will continue to frustrate project starts and completions.”