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The Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Future Trends Survey for January 2024 remains in negative territory for the seventh month in a row.
This is the longest period of negative sentiment since RIBA Future Trends launched in 2009.
On the bright side, January was not as bad as December, with the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index rising from minus 9 to minus 8.
January survey results show that over the next three months, 18% of architect practices expect workloads to increase, 26% expect workloads to decrease and 52% expect workloads to remain the same.
As usual, it’s the little touches that are most frustrating. The outlook for small practices (1-10 employees) improved slightly, rising 5 points to -10, while the outlook for medium (11+ employees) and large (50+ employees) practices fell 27 points, The total is +3.
All monitored job sectors maintained a negative outlook for future work, but there was no deterioration. The outlook for the private residential sector improved by 4 percentage points to -12, the business sector (-5) and the public sector (-9) remained stable, and the outlook for the community sector rose by 1 percentage point to -8.
The RIBA Future Trends Permanent Staff Index held steady at minus two in January, showing practices expect their permanent staff numbers to fall.
Over the next three months, 8% of practices expect to hire more permanent staff, 10% expect to hire less, and 83% expect no changes.
Adrian Malleson, head of economic research and analysis at the RIBA, said: “Amid rising interest rates and a weakening UK economy, architects expect work volumes to fall for the seventh month in a row, the longest period of pessimism since the survey began in 2009.
“Persistently above-target inflation and clients’ difficulties in accessing finance continue to weigh on workloads, while poor performance in the property sector continues to impact smaller businesses.
“These problems are exacerbated by ongoing planning delays. Many practices have highlighted failures in the planning system that have delayed project schedules, reduced practice income and hampered the UK’s economic prosperity. Practices have also reported downward pressure on fees, with many reporting Domestic clients seeking free early design and planning advice.”
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