But at ground level it seems to get less done, less well. Just look at the dreadful state of repair of the average British town compared to comparable French towns.

Housing state of repair and a country's manufacturing sector aren't much to do with each other. Like, at all.

Not at all? Someone has to manufacture the parts and materials and surely they could be in the same country. Having to buy those things from another country, especially now that the UK is out of the EU is surely a more complicated thing than buying them in the country. So surely there must be some connection.

The parts and material for building repair are a vanishingly small portion of almost any countries' economy.

That was what I was implying. Not sure if its accurate, just a gut feeling atm.

Ah you're right. Fair. I thought France was in between UK and Germany, but actually its comparable. Germany being much higher.