18/05/2026
Construction Market Sentiment Q2 2026: Cautious Confidence in an Increasingly Complex Market
Quartz’s latest contractor sentiment survey highlights a market that remains active, but increasingly cautious amid geopolitical uncertainty and inflationary pressure linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
Drawing insight from 30 main contractors operating across the UK private construction market, several key themes emerged:
• Continued tender price inflation driven by energy, material and logistics cost pressures
• Growing adoption of two-stage and collaborative procurement models
• Increasing focus on material pricing, supply chain resilience and contractor insolvency risk
• Cautious optimism around contractor turnover growth and future pipelines
The findings suggest the industry is adapting through earlier engagement, evolving procurement strategies and more disciplined risk management.
For clients and developers, certainty, collaboration and realistic procurement strategies are becoming critical to securing strong contractor engagement and successful project outcomes.
A big thank you to all the contractors that took part.
Click the link in bio to read the full report.
UKREiiF development costmanagement Tim Robinson
