26th July 2010 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Construction workloads for small building companies have continued to decline for the tenth consecutive quarter, according to the latest State of Trade Survey (PDF, 268 KB) from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). However, there are signs that the continual fall in workloads maybe nearing its end with a leveling off in the rate of decline for both residential and non residential work.
Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB said:
“Despite the fact that 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 stabilize around their current albeit much reduced levels.”
Berry continued:
"Workloads right across the entire housing sector are now showing encouraging signs of stabilization as demonstrated by the fact that 46% of FMB companies undertaking private new housing; 60% of FMB companies undertaking social new housing; and 52% of FMB companies carrying out social repair, maintenance and improvement (RM&I) work reported no change to their workloads. When this is considered with the 53% of respondents to the survey reporting no change to staffing levels; the 60% not expecting to make any staffing changes over the next six months; and the 50-60% of companies reporting no change expectations for workloads in each of eight sectors for the coming quarter, we are at last beginning to see some hope of recovery in the construction sector."
Berry concluded:
“The recovery in the wider construction sector is still very fragile, and the signs of stabilization in the SME sector are not the same as actual growth. Even without further decline we have some very serious problems. For example, private new housing workloads have been declining every quarter since quarter three of 2007 and new social housing has only seen workload growth in two quarters since 1999. There needs to be significant growth, and not just in housing but in the construction sector as a whole if we are to have a sustained recovery. Looking ahead we have yet to see the details of the Government’s autumn spending review and the impact of the increase in the rate of VAT to 20% next year might jeopardize the recovery, resulting in thousands of jobs losses and push the building industry back into recession.”
