Private housebuilding output in the first quarter of the year dropped by 5.3% according to the latest official figures, dragging down the modest rises in output seen elsewhere in construction.

The latest figures published this morning by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that £9.74bn of private housebuilding work was carried out in the first three months of the year, a sharp drop on the last quarter of 2022, albeit marginally – 0.4% - ahead of the same period last year.

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