The survey found that a net balance of 15 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a rise in workloads on private housebuilding projects in the final quarter of 2019, a similar level to that seen last time.
It was only a little behind the balance of 17 per cent of surveyors reporting a rise in workloads on infrastructure projects.
Surveyors believe this will continue too, with 23 per cent more surveyors suggesting workloads will rise rather than fall over the year ahead on private housing cases. This is the second most resilient sector according to RICS, behind the 25 per cent of surveyors working on infrastructure.
Almost three quarters of respondents suggested that financial constraints were likely to be the biggest impediment to building activity, with a net balance of 20 per cent more surveyors noting a deterioration rather than an improvement in credit conditions over the past three months.
Jeffrey Matsu, economist at RICS, highlighted that surveyors were reporting full order books and constraints on capacity, which pointed away from the prospect of a recession.
He added: “The General Election result last month provided a welcome relief to market confidence with the anticipation of additional fiscal spending to be announced at Spring Budget pushing year-ahead workload expectations higher.
“That said, the yet-to-be-known relationship with the EU has kept the economic outlook fragile which is affecting business’ intentions to invest.”
