Construction workloads plummet
Construction workloads fell in the West Midlands during the last quarter of 2010, according to the latest RICS Construction Market Survey. RICS attributed the drop to government spending cuts and a lack of commercial finance.
Four per cent more surveyors reported total construction workloads in the West Midlands fell rather than rose in the final quarter of 2010.
As a result of government spending cuts, public housing and public non-housing sectors in the West Midlands were the hardest hit - recording net balances of -28 and -24 respectively. Surveyors reported that the spare capacity created by falling public sector workloads is “yet to be replaced by the private sector”, according to RICS.
Surveyors are also predicting a bleak outlook for employment within the sector. Ten per cent more respondents said they were expecting employment levels to fall rather than rise over the next 12 months.
Only the private commercial sector in the West Midlands managed to remain in positive territory (+14). However, RICS said that this result was “more indicative of the sector bottoming out, rather than a sustained recovery”.
RICS West Midlands spokesman Adrian Aston said: “The rebound in the construction sector seems to have run out of steam. Although bad weather at the end of the year will clearly have had some impact on responses to the survey, the bigger picture here is of an industry under significant pressure as public spending cuts begin to bite, while there is little sign of a private sector recovery across large parts of the country.
“Planning continues to affect the lead-in period to sites which are becoming lengthened with the amount of pre-commencement conditions being imposed by planning authorities.”
Elsewhere, work levels varied strongly across the UK. The South East/ London was the only region to report positive activity, while all other regions saw sharp falls in workloads. Northern Ireland and Scotland recorded the largest falls in activity with net balances of –52 and –23 respectively.
