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RICS reports private housing boost

Thursday, 19 May 2011 12:02 AM

Workloads in the private housing sector rose in the first three months of 2011, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

In its latest Construction Market Survey, the net balance of members seeing a rise in private housing work rose to +8 from -10 in the final quarter of 2010. That’s only the second positive reading for the sector in the three years since work slumped in the wake of the credit crunch.

Workload fell again in the public housing sector and seems set to fall further in the wake of public spending cuts.

There were marked differences between different parts of the UK. London and the South-East reported the biggest increase in work but Northern Ireland recorded the biggest fall.

RICS members in Yorkshire & Humberside said substantial housing schemes were underway in coastal towns but that affordable housing schemes were seeing reduced funding.

“We are particularly encouraged by the indications that the private sector is not only seeing an increase in workloads but planning to raise employment,” said RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn.

“With impending public spending cuts, the construction industry is still likely to face significant challenges over the next 12 to 18 months, but our latest results do provide a chink of light that things are beginning to get better.”

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