Sales of building materials at builders’ merchants throughout the country fell by 3.3% for the three months December 2006 to February 2007, when compared to the same three month period in 2005/06, according to figures just released by the Builders Merchants Federation.

When compared with the immediately preceding three-month period (September to November 2006), sales fell by 4.6%. The month comparison was down 3.7% over last year and the12-month comparison was down by 1.3%.

Sales of lightside products (e.g. plumbing, heating and ironmongery) fared better than those of heavyside products (e.g. bricks, blocks, aggregates and timber). The year on year three month period comparison saw lightside sales increase by 0.1%, whereas heavyside sales fell by 3.4%. Generalist business covering a broad mix of building materials saw sales fall by 3.7%.

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Regionally the picture is mixed, with the strongest three monthly sales in Greater London (+1.9%) and parts of the South East (+2.2%) and the weakest in the East Midlands (-10.6%) and Scotland (-9.3%). Many other regions saw only a marginal fall.

Commenting on the figures, BMF Secretary, Peter Matthews said: “The BMF’s February Sales Indicators reflect adjustments for differences in trading days and for product inflation which are currently deflating the results. There are also strong local variations and many regions are experiencing much better trading conditions than the national figure implies.”