Construction Insolvencies Creep Up in March 2025

THERE WERE 377 construction insolvencies registered in March 2025 – a 2.5% increase on February (367).

Overall, construction firms accounted for 18.1% of all insolvencies in England and Wales in March 2025.

By rough comparison, construction firms accounted for 14% of all registered businesses in the UK in 2024.

Insolvencies among firms classified as providing specialised construction activities contributed significantly, reaching a seven-month high and increasing by 1.5% on the previous month.

Year-on-Year

The total number of construction firms becoming insolvent in the 12 months to the end of March 2025 was 4,111. This was a 4.3% decrease on the 4,295 insolvencies recorded in the year to March 2024, and a 27.8% increase on the 3,217 in pre-pandemic 2019.

Of all cases where the industry was captured in the statistics, construction experienced the highest number of insolvencies in the year to March 2025.

The Insolvency Service said while the insolvency rate has increased since the lows seen in 2020 and 2021, it remains much lower than the peak of 113.1 per 10,000 companies seen during the 2008-09 recession. This is because the number of companies on the effective register has more than doubled over this period. The rate in the year to the end of April 2025 was 52.5 per 10,000 companies.

Scotland Insolvencies

In Scotland, there were 16 construction company insolvencies in April 2025, accounting for 15.8% of all insolvencies in the country. This was the same number as in March 2025, and one less than in April 2024.

The total for the 12-month period to April 2025 was 193, which was six fewer than the 199 insolvencies in the year to April 2024, and a 6.8% decrease on the 207 in pre-pandemic 2019.

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