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BCIS Issues Forecast For Maintenance, Cleaning And Energy Sector

Repair and maintenance output is expected to fall by 5.2% overall in 2024 compared with 2023, according to the latest quarterly forecast for the facilities management sector from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).

Output is forecast to increase by 1.8% in 2025, and to be 10% higher in 2029 than in 2024.

BCIS chief data officer Karl Horton said: “Despite the delicate state of the UK economy, the underlying demand for FM services, including maintenance and cleaning, remains strong, but it is constrained by public sector budgets and private sector finance.

“Total repair and maintenance output increased in 2023 but, with a reduction in spending in all sectors except for public housing in 2024, we are expecting to see a fall overall this year.

“As we are seeing in other sectors, costs will be driven by labour, which will rise faster than inflation throughout the period.”

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Maintenance costs, as measured by the BCIS All‑in Maintenance Cost Indices, are set to rise by 17% between 1Q2024 and 1Q2029, while cleaning costs are expected to rise by 35% over the forecast period. BCIS forecasts energy costs to fall by 28% over the same period.

Horton said: “Maintenance costs rose by 5.9% in the year to 1Q2024, but we expect annual inflation to slow to 3.6% in the year to 1Q2025.

“Cleaning costs increased by 9.4% in the year to 1Q2024, driven by labour costs and increases to the national living wage. We expect these pressures to continue throughout the forecast period, with annual inflation in cleaning costs slowing slightly to 8.3% in the year to 1Q2025.

“Although we expect energy costs to continue to fall during the forecast period, pricing of course remains vulnerable to ongoing geopolitical movements and global conflict.”