Flat Builders’ Merchant value sales in May, but volumes fell -5.8% year-on-year

The latest Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report, published in July, shows May 2026’s total like-for-like value sales (adjusted to remove the effect of trading days) were essentially flat, -0.1% lower than May 2025. But like-for-like volume sales were down -5.8% year-on-year.

With one less trading day in May 2026, year-on-year unadjusted value sales were -5.1% lower. Volumes were down -10.5% while prices increased +6.1%. By value, only two of the twelve categories sold more: Workwear & Safetywear (+7.5%) and Services (+3.3%). Of the 10 categories selling less, Renewables & Water Saving (-10.7%), Decorating (-6.8%), Ironmongery (-6.7%) and Heavy Building Materials (-6.4%) recorded the largest decreases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the three months March to May 2026, like-for-like value sales were -1.6% lower than the same three months in 2025. Like-for-like volume sales were down -5.9% but prices increased +4.5%. With no difference in trading days, unadjusted value sales were also -1.6% lower, with volumes down -5.9% and prices up +4.5%. By value, five categories sold more, with Workwear & Safetywear (+5.8%) and Services (+5.8%) increasing the most. Of the two largest categories, Timber & Joinery Products (+0.2%) did better than Total Builders Merchants, while Heavy Building Materials (-3.3%) was the weakest category.

In the 12 months from June 2025 to May 2026, like-for-like value sales were down -1.2% compared to the previous 12-month period (June 2024 to May 2025). With no difference in trading days, unadjusted value sales were also -1.2% lower, while volumes declined -3.2% and prices edged up +2.1%. By value, seven categories sold more, with Renewables & Water Saving (+10.4%) out in front. Of the two largest categories, Timber and Joinery Products grew +1.4% while Heavy Building Materials fell -3.4%.

In the year to date (January to May 2026), like-for-like value sales were -2.1% lower than the first five months of 2025. Like-for-like volume sales were down -6.8% and prices were up +5.0%. With one less trading day in the most recent year, unadjusted value sales were down -3.1%. Volumes fell -7.7% and prices increased +5.0%. By value only three categories sold more with Renewables & Water Saving (+9.6%) growing the most. Timber & Joinery Products (-0.2%) declined less than Total Builders Merchants, but Heavy Building Materials was down -5.6%, and the weakest category.

Mike Rigby, Managing Director of MRA Research which produces the BMBI report says: “Builders’ Merchants’ sales are in the Doldrums: value sales are flat, prices up, volume down year on year while the Government sorts itself out.

“The parallels with the Doldrums, a real place, are uncanny. It’s a low-pressure area near the Equator where the prevailing breeze can disappear, making it extremely difficult to navigate. It has a reputation for stranding ships for weeks on end, causing them to run out of supplies. It’s not just about stagnant calm winds. Weather patterns can also be erratic moving quickly to violent thunder and electric storms.

“However, with Andy Burnham due to take over the reins as Prime Minister mid-July, could this be the reset the industry needs – a fresh opportunity to get Britain building again?

“The new PM is saying, without fleshing out the detail, what the building industry wants to hear: a commitment to growth in every postcode; devolved powers over housing, infrastructure and regeneration projects; the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period. But we’ve been here before. Ex PM Starmer promised to build 1.5 million homes in five years, and that was just pie in the sky. And the major problems which have dogged that ambitious build programme have gone unresolved. We will have to wait for the ‘King of the North’ to get his feet under the table in Downing Street, to see whether he can translate his Manchesterism ideology to the national stage.”

Set up and run by MRA Research, the BMBI – a brand of the Builders Merchants Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date measure of 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. An in-depth review, which includes commentary by sector experts, is provided each quarter

May’s BMBI report is available to download at www.bmbi.co.uk.