Expectations for construction activity are beginning to look up as the industry remains largely stable, according to the RICS UK Construction Monitor for Q4 2024.
The report shows Infrastructure has seen a modest uplift in activity although the picture is flatter across other sectors.
Headline workloads slipped into negative territory, with total activity for the whole of the construction industry, dipping marginally to -1 per cent from +2 per cent last quarter.
Breaking the figure down, new workloads experienced a modest drop of 0 to -4 per cent, while repair and maintenance showed a slight increase from +11 per cent to +13 per cent.
By sector, infrastructure remained the strongest performing area, posting a net balance of +12 per cent slightly below the +17 per cent in Q3.
Within infrastructure, the energy subsector reported the firmest net balance reading for another quarter with Q4’s +35 per cent, while rail remains the weakest at 0 per cent (Q3: +1 per cent).
Workloads across all other sectors remained largely subdued.
Financial constraints were still a large impediment, with 62 per cent of respondents citing it among the biggest concerns for their operation, followed by planning and regulation issues, and labour shortages (41 per cent).
However, looking ahead at the next 12 months, workload expectations remain upbeat returning a headline net balance of +20 per cent compared to +24 per cent in Q3 2024.
Infrastructure is still anticipated to be the strongest performing sector, with a net balance of +30 per cent, compared to +20 per cent for private residential and +15% per cent for private non-residential.
Looking at profit margin expectations, the latest net balance result points to little sign of a turnaround (-7 per cent anticipate a decline over the next twelve months as against -3 per cent previously).
Alongside this, industry employment expectations over the coming year remain solid, returning a net balance of +18 per cent, unchanged from Q3.
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