LONDON, July 6 Reuters British house building fell in June at the sharpest pace in more than 14 years, excluding two months early in the COVID19 pandemic, as higher borrowing costs dampened demand and weighed on the broader construction sector, a survey showed on Thursday.

The SP GlobalCIPS construction Purchasing Managers39; Index PMI dropped to a fivemonth low of 48.9 in June from 51.6 in May, below economists39; forecast of 51.0 in a Reuters poll and the 50 level that divides growth from contraction.

The decline was driven by a far steeper slump in the house building component, which slid to 39.6 from 42.7, its lowest since May 2020 and before 2020 the lowest since April 2009, when the global financial crisis hammered mortgage lending.

Survey respondents widely commented on cutbacks to new residential building projects and more caution among clients in response to rising interest rates, Tim Moore, economics director at SP Global Market Intelligence, said.

Last month the Bank of England BoE unexpectedly raised interest rates to 5 from 4.5, and typical interest rates for twoyear fixedrate residential mortgages the commonest form of finance for buyers have risen above 6.5, according to data provider Moneyfacts.

Official data has also shown falls in house building. April figures showed total construction volumes were 3.6 higher than a year earlier, but new housing was down 6.1, the biggest annual decline since January 2021.

The PMI survey showed that civil…