Small building companies’ construction workloads have declined for the 10th consecutive quarter, according to the latest survey by the UK’s biggest builders group.
The results of the Federation of Master Builders’ second quarter trade survey (FMB) follows the latest report from the Office of National Statistics which shows the overall construction sector grew by 6.6% during the period.
But the FMB said there were signs that the continued fall affecting small builders may be nearing its end, with a leveling off in the decline for both residential and non-residential work.
“Despite the fact the quarter two results from our survey still show two-and-a-half years of declining workloads, underneath the headline results we are seeing grounds for some optimism in that workloads and employment are at least beginning to stabilise around their current albeit much-reduced levels,” said Brian Berry, FMB director of external affairs.
Mr Berry said 46% of member companies in private new housing, 60% of members in social new housing and 52% carrying out social repair and maintenance and improvement work reported no change to their workloads.
“We are at last beginning to see some hope of recovery in the construction sector,” he added.
The proportion of respondents reporting higher workloads in the private housing RMI sector rose from 22% in the first quarter to 29% in the second and the proportion indicating lower workloads fell from 47% to 31%.
The FMB said this suggests consumer confidence may be improving and households are looking to undertake some RMI work delayed by concerns over the recession.
