Building surveyors continue to downplay prospects

SCOTS building surveyors are reporting a continued drop in how busy they are.

Says the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, so-called ‘market activity’ among its Scots members has fallen for a third, successive quarter-year.

In the particular sub-sector of private housing, a net balance of minus eight per cent reported a fall in workload in Q2 of this year (April to June); calculated by comparing the 35 per cent of respondents reporting a decrease versus the 27 per cent reporting an increase (and 38 per cent reporting no change).

Meanwhile, in the ‘private industrial’ sub-sector, the net balance was minus 13 per cent (29 per cent reporting a drop versus 16 per cent reporting an increase – and 55 per cent no change).

However, the survey also found that labour supply has slightly improved, with 56 per cent of respondents reporting a shortage in quantity surveyors (down from 63 per cent in Q1), 54 per cent noting a fall in overall ‘construction professionals’ (compared to 61 per cent in Q1), and 47 per cent reporting a shortage in bricklayers “which – [says RICS] – is the lowest this figure has been since the beginning of 2021”. 

Says RICS, in a media announcement: “In line with the ongoing fall in workloads, surveyors are less optimistic about the 12 months ahead than they were and expect workloads to be broadly flat over the year ahead. The net balance is minus one per cent, compared to plus 12 per cent the quarter previous.”

The UK-wide picture can be found, here.

Picture credit: Place Design Scotland

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