Latest UK builders merchants sales figures show that builders’ merchants’ Q2 2026 like-for-like value sales, (adjusted to remove the impact of trading days), were -1.2% lower than Q2 2025.
The Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) also shows that like-for-like volume sales were down -6.6%, but prices increased +5.8%.
In Q2, by value, only three of the 12 categories sold more: Services (+7.3%), Workwear & Safetywear (+4.5%) and Miscellaneous (+2.3%). Of the two largest categories, Heavy Building Materials fell -2.6%, while Timber & Joinery Products was flat (0.0%). Renewables & Water Saving (-3.8%) was the weakest category.
June’s 2026 like-for-like value sales were -2.5% lower than June the year before. June’s like-for-like volume sales fell -10.0% while prices increased +8.4%. With one extra trading day in June 2026 compared to June 2025, unadjusted total value sales were +2.2% higher year-on-year. Unadjusted volume sales were -5.7% lower and prices were up +8.4%.
Nine categories sold more by unadjusted value with Services (+11.7%), Workwear & Safetywear (+11.1%), and Miscellaneous (+9.7%) performing best. Heavy Building Materials was up just +0.5% but Timber & Joinery Products (+3.1%) outperformed Total Builders Merchants (+2.2%). The joint weakest categories were Ironmongery (-1.1%) and Renewables & Water Saving (-1.1%).
Mike Rigby, MD of MRA Research who produce this report, said overall construction output was “anaemic”, as the latest ONS data revealed a +0.3% increase in Q2 output compared to Q1 but -2.0% lower than Q2 2025. Five out of the nine construction sectors grew in Q2 2026 with infrastructure new work, the strongest up, +1.9%.
“Housebuilding continues to meet significant headwinds,” he said.
“The latest National House Building Council (NHBC) numbers put Q2 new home registrations down -4.0% year-on-year, with cost pressures and geopolitical uncertainty affecting house builders’ performance.
“The prolonged dry weather has also thrown a new issue into the mix – water. Analysis by Public First, commissioned by Water UK, shows that England only has sufficient water for 420,000 of the 1.5 million homes the government wants built during its parliamentary term.”
On the positive side, the GfK Consumer Confidence Index is looking more optimistic and there was a five-point jump in the Major Purchase Index; a good omen for residential RMI projects.
• The BMBI – a brand of the Builders Merchants Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date proxy for Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. The index is based on actual sales from NiQ GfK’s Builders’ Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data, which captures value sales out to builders from generalist builders’ merchants, accounting for 88% of total sales from builders’ merchants throughout Great Britain.
