Lombardy construction maintained a positive trend in 2023 (marking +8%), but showed signs of a slowdown already in the first months of the new year.
Our province in 2023 saw a increase in employmentfor a total of 7,752 workers in the sector, ranking after the provinces of the Milan area (Milan, Lodi, Monza Brianza) and Lecco.
These are the data that emerge from the investigation Unioncamere Lombardiawhich precisely reports the increase in the turnover of construction companies for the third consecutive year (the record in 2022), but with expectations falling with double-digit percentages for the new year due to fears linked to the end of tax incentives.
If last year the sector still enjoyed the tail end of fiscal incentives, in particular the Superbonus, from this year the trend has slowed down significantly, with strongly negative expectations for the coming months (-18% on residential and -23% on renovations).
For Cremona, as we said, a 3% increase in employmentwhich follows the trend of all the Lombardy provinces, with the exception of Pavia, even if in general the projections for the current year also highlight a clear slowdown in this area.
If for the next quarter the stability seems confirmed in all the provinces, on the basis of the ‘queues’ of the latest construction sites linked to the superbonus, the levels of confidence are in sharp decline, in particular for the residential and renovation market (major beneficiaries of the incentives taxes, about whose future there is no certainty). A separate discussion for public construction works, where the prospects for this sector remain more encouraging thanks to the expected effects of the PNRR, while on the investment front, in 2023 the numbers remained important (32.6%), although some signs highlight a slowdown for 2024.
“Construction continues to remain a strategic sector for Lombardy, both in terms of the private and public markets given the huge investments contained in the Pnnr – he specified Gian Domenico AuricchioPresident of Unioncamere Lombardia. -In view of the changes expected by the Government in the coming months, I believe it is important that companies in the sector better implement the ongoing transformations, facing new challenges and managing to guarantee increasingly specialized professional figures”.
“Lombardy companies in the sector have proven themselves, for the third consecutive year, to be active players in the regional economy. Unfortunately, a negative sentiment is increasingly emerging linked to expectations on construction demand, especially for renovations and for the residential sector, recording further worsening compared to the already negative values of the last few quarters” – he highlighted Tiziano PavoniPresident of ANCE Lombardia. -As an Association we think that, with a view to continuing the redevelopment activity of the existing building stock, with the aim of implementing the new “Green Houses” Community Directive, it will be necessary to build a new structural and long-term instrument to replace and reorganization of the Superbonus”.
“The competitiveness of the Lombardy construction chain will depend on the possibility of making the necessary investments with the aim of giving continuity to the urban regeneration of our territories – he added Guido GuidesiCouncilor for Economic Development of the Lombardy Region – Furthermore, this does not exclude help for citizens to invest in their properties in accordance with the European decisions already taken; support which, as rightly recalled several times by the Italian Government, must come from the same Europe that decided the objectives to be achieved; this evidently must go hand in hand with clear, simple and lasting legislation. We, as a Region, will continue to do our part to support businesses.”
Further information in the report published on the Unioncamere Lombardia website
