Housebuilding continues to pick-up across the South West

Housebuilding in the South West is continuing to rebound with chartered surveyors across the region reporting growth, says the latest RICS construction market survey.

During the third quarter of the year, the region’s surveyors reported rises in privately-funded housing projects. Furthermore, on a national level, this is the first time that every part of the country has reported growth since the beginning of the market crash six years ago and demonstrates that the long-awaited upturn in numbers of new homes may finally be underway.

Additionally, the overall construction sector saw a welcome boost during the three months to September, with the region’s workloads rising at their strongest rate since the winter of 2007 (net balance +14 percent). This will prove welcome news to an economy that has seen construction struggle considerably for some time.

As the summer months drew to a close, there was also good news for the South West’s employment prospects with a net balance of +67 expecting more jobs to be created in the sector over the next twelve months. Worryingly, however, this improving picture for employment is already being reflected in a jump in reported skill shortages, highlighting the potential for capacity issues if the recovery continues to gather pace.

Significantly, the region’s surveyors are expecting a sharp acceleration in business activity during the next twelve months. A net balance of 70 percent of respondents see the volume of work picking up speed. This optimism was also reflected in positive predictions for company profits as the sector begins to dig its way out of the downturn.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist, commented: “While it’s certainly good news that construction - and especially housebuilding - is finally on the rise right across the UK, we are certainly not out of the woods yet. Critically, we’re still way behind in terms of building enough homes to meet the nation’s growing housing need and overall construction projects are at a historical low. In the face of this challenge, it is a particularly concerning that we are already receiving reports of some skill shortages as well as capacity constraints for some building materials such as bricks.”