East of England construction to turn a corner in 2013

• Posted on Dayle
• in Dayles Blog, RICS, RICS matrics, Uncategorized, Women In Construction
• on January 29, 2013
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East of England construction to turn a corner in 2013

RICS Construction Market Survey, Q4 2012

 The East of England construction market is expected to turn a corner this year, with chartered surveyors predicting output to increase in 2013, says the latest RICS construction market survey.

 Last quarter, 42 percent more surveyors across the region reported that they expect workloads to grow over the coming twelve months but this follows what was a horrendous year for the sector.

This upturn is reflected in the small increase in reported workloads in the final three months of 2012. Over this period, a net balance of five percent more respondents in the region indicated that activity had increased, with the most substantial gains being seen in infrastructure – which has been the focus of so much government attention – and private commercial development.

Significantly, despite the introduction of the Funding for Lending Scheme, some 89 percent of East of England surveyors believe that financial constraints are holding the industry back with almost two thirds citing insufficient demand. Not surprisingly, over half also claim that weather conditions have hampered a recovery in the sector.

Elsewhere, input costs continue to climb in the region with 25 percent more respondents reporting rises rather than falls. Alongside this increase in input costs there has been a sustained decrease in output prices.

Across the country,Londonand the South East and the North of England saw overall workloads rise by the biggest margin, whileNorthern IrelandandScotlandsaw activity continue to drop by significant margins.

Anglia Business Awards Young Business Person of the Year 2012 and RICS East Construction Spokesperson, Dayle Bayliss comments:

“This year has already started off well for us with a steady stream of enquiries as well as projects that have been in the pipeline coming to fruition.

“We are, however seeing clients expecting lower costs on their projects under the assumption that there is greater competition for the work. And for the time being financing constraints are still an issue although the Funding for Lending Scheme should gradually help to ease this challenge.

“On the back of these results 2013 looks to be more encouraging.”