A rise in new building activity from housing associations helped to boost overall construction workloads in Wales in the first quarter of this year.
The latest construction monitor from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), shows a positive net balance of 10% of surveyors in Wales reported a rise in overall construction activity, up from 3% seen in the final quarter of 2024.
Public housing (which includes housing associations) continues to see the highest workloads balance, with a net balance of 50% reporting an increase, the highest this balance has been in three years.
Workloads in the private industrial subsector fell flat, and the net balances of the rest of the subsectors were all in negative territory; private housing (minus 14%), private commercial (minus 26%), infrastructure (minus 7%) and other public works (minus 5%).
Surveyors in Wales remain optimistic about future workloads, with a net balance of 20% of respondents expecting an increase over the next year, up from 16% in the survey previous, and above the Ƶ average of 17%.
However, profit margins are still expected to fall over the next 12-months. A net balance of minus 7% of surveyors in Wales anticipate that profit margins will decline.
Welsh surveyors continue to report shortages in skilled workers – 60% report a shortage in quantity surveyors, down from 65% in Q4 2024, and 48% note a shortfall in other construction professionals compared to the 50% reported in the previous survey. Forty-seven per cent report a deficit in bricklayers, down from 66% that was reported in the final quarter of 2024.
Jodie O’Connor of Penfro Consultancy in Pembroke Dock, said: “Improved access and additional investment in training and retaining professionals across the west Wales region is essential to support the growth and development of sustainable energy projects and related infrastructure.”
On the Ƶ picture, RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said: “Construction activity was largely flat over the quarter, with respondents expressing a little more caution in the face of the heightened level uncertainty both at a global and domestic level. In particular, concerns about the implementation of tariffs and what this might mean for costs and economic activity as well as the potential impact of the uplift in employer NI contributions are highlighted in the feedback.
“Significantly, aside from financial issues, the most cited obstacle to activity referenced in the survey is planning and regulation which chimes neatly with the Ƶ Government’s agenda. Addressing this issue is critical if the ambitions around housing and infrastructure are to be met.
“That said, for now the forward-looking metrics
