UK construction outlook dims, RICS survey finds

UK construction growth slowed in the first quarter of 2016, according to fresh data, with the rate of private house building slowing to a three-year low.

Revealing its research, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the slowdown in growth had been accompanied by a decline in confidence in the sector's outlook, though a small majority of 55% still expect the industry's workloads to expand over the coming 12 months.

This is down from a super-confident figure of 79% at this time last year.

RICS' UK construction market survey found 36% more of those working in the sector reported a rise in growth rather than a fall over the first quarter of 2016, which was the slowest pace of growth since the second quarter of 2013.

During the first quarter of last year that figure was close to 50%.

Furthermore, while 33% more construction professionals said they saw workloads rise rather than fall during the last quarter of 2015, this figure dropped by 5% over following three months.

This follows official data from the Office for National Statistics that output in the UK construction industry dipped 0.3% in February compared with the previous month, falling short of expectations for no change, while compared with the same month last year, output rose 0.3%.

Housebuilding increased 6.8% in the three months - its biggest jump since March 2014.

RICS Chief Economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said the sector was complaining that planning delays were one of the biggest barriers to growth in the construction sector.

“That said, we cannot discount the climate of uncertainty caused by the forthcoming EU referendum. We know that a range of sectors have been affected by these issues as investors look to delay any decisions until a final outcome has been determined, and construction is no exception.”