Surveys Point Towards Increasing Construction Sector Confidence
Despite a fall in construction activity at the start of 2023, surveyors in Scotland are predicting sector growth for the first time in almost a year while another survey has highlighted a rebound in repair, maintenance, and improvement (RMI) work for construction SMEs.
A net balance of -6% of Scottish respondents to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Construction Monitor said that workloads fell, the second consecutive quarter that this indicator was in negative territory.
This is compared to the net balance +3% of respondents at the UK level. But on a 12-month horizon, Scottish surveyors now expect growth, with a +12% saying that workloads will be higher in a year’s time.
The last time this indicator was in positive territory was Q2 2022.
Looking at the current workloads, private housing experienced the steepest slowdown of the sub-sectors, with a net balance of -21% of respondents reported.
Most other sub-sectors were said to have had broadly flat workloads other than infrastructure. A net balance of +14% of respondents said that infrastructure workloads increased in the quarter.
With the expected rise in workloads, respondents in Scotland also expect employment to increase with a net balance of +26% expecting employment levels to be higher in a year’s time.
In line with this relatively robust employment picture, skills shortages don’t appear to have eased. Shortages of quantity surveyors bricklayers and other construction professionals continue to be reported.