A mixture of good and bad news this month. ONS figures show that construction output was down in January 2011 compared with December 2010. When these figures are compared with January 2010 the total is up 6%. All new works are up by 8%, with Public Housing up by 37% and Private Housing by 18%. Overall, Repair and Maintenance if slightly better than flat.

The ONS has also published figured for new orders in quarter 4 of 2010. These show a 18% per cent increase over the previous quarter. This was the best quarterly performance in the last 2 years. When comparing 2010 with 2009, Public (+10.8%) and Private  (+58.1%) Housing are both up, as is Private Commercial (+10.7%). But Infrastructure (-26.1%), Public Non-Housing (-6.2%) and Industrial (-17.9%) were all down on 2009.

Commenting on this Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, said: "Although the final quarter highlighted an 18% rise in new orders, the extent to which this is reliant on the public sector is still extremely concerning given the sharp cuts in public spending outlined in the Comprehensive Spending Review that will occur after April."

Despite the improvement in housing output and orders there is still concern at the limited number of planning permissions granted. In their February Housing Pipeline Report the Home Builders Federation state that "Local Authority planning permissions for house building continued to head firmly downwards. It is the third successive quarterly fall and leaves permissions at less than half the rate being granted four years ago." Despite these difficulties Persimmon managed to increase profit, revenues and completions in 2010 and Bellway reported a small improvement.

The Construction Media Index, an extensive, independent body of research into media consumption habits among construction professionals, shows that while architects are the most enthusiastic users of the internet to source product and service information, specialist contractors head the rest. 96% of architects search online for information on building products, which is no surprise. However, that 92% of specialist contractors do - making them the second most likely group to look online, turning to the internet more often for information than housebuilders, surveyors and the rest - was more of a surprise. That said, use of search is commonplace, with over half of all construction professionals using online search to find products, services or businesses.

Use of social media also divides the professions, with interior designers keenest on blogs, Twitter and Facebook, with architects strongly preferring Linkedin. Main Contractors are obviously suspicious of the social media revolution, being the least enthusiastic adopters of all such services - except Linkedin.

The Construction Media Index is a comprehensive set of reports into the communications channels available to promote to the construction sector. It provides impartial information for the use of the construction industry, identifies the key hard copy and electronic media used by category of decision maker and market sector.

Despite the current low housing outputs, pent up demand for housing remains. In its report Household Projects published in November last year by the Department of Communities and Local Government they predicted a requirement of 232,000 additional households per year. Now the Institute for Public Policy Research has published a report which anticipates a minimum 200,000 pa shortfall in housing assuming a faltering economy, this increases to more than 280,000 extra homes each year if the economy performs well.

We shall soon see how much the Government's New Homes Bonus will contribute to lifting housing output. Announced last month and commencing in April 2011, the Bonus will match fund the additional council tax potential from increases in effective housing stock  for the following 6 years. It will also provide an additional £350 for each affordable home for the following six years. £200m has been set aside for payments in 2011/12.

Commenting on this the Home Builders Federation have calculated the revenue gained and lost by local authorities in the past year as a result of their planning policies.

Development of the Green Deal is now moving rapidly forward. DECC have appointed four working groups to look at different aspects of the deal;

Finance - how the initiative will be funded

Accreditation - Defining installation standards and advising on installer accreditation.

Adoption - Suggesting "triggers and nudges" to ensure green deal take-up

Capacity - Ensuring the industry has the capacity to respond to the initiative in terms of software to analyse buildings and mechanisms to quickly approve new products.

Already these groups are calling for evidence and companies need to respond quickly if they want their products, systems or mechanisms to be taken into account. The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes has requested submissions to inform a review of the costs and benefits associated with a wide range of energy efficiency measures. This is required before 4^th April.

Full details of the current status of the project can be found on the DECC website. Also look out for announcements in next week's budget.