RICS survey shows signs of recovery in construction industry

May 28 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

THE beleaguered construction industry is showing signs of recovery, with builders in the North suffering a slower decline in work than their southern counterparts.

A survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) indicates far more North contractors saw workloads fall than increase in the first quarter. But the figures improve on the last quarter of 2008 and on the national average for this year so far.

The y will encourage the region’s house builders, as more surveyors report a rise in work than a fall. This is in line with recent figures from the National House Building Council, which revealed 16,232 planning applications had been received in the first quarter, 2% up on the final quarter of 2008.

Evidence of turnaround in the North East was backed up by figures from Gateshead’s Keepmoat Homes North East, which completed and sold 283 properties against a target of 275 in its financial year to March 2009.

Managing director Richard Bass said: “Although it has been a tremendously difficult year, we are encouraged by recent performance. There is still a good deal of interest out there with footfall at developments holding up well.” But RICS said the outlook for the rest of the year was fairly downbeat, with more surveyors expecting a fall in business over the year and more expecting to lose staff.