UK construction workloads moved into positive territory for the first time in a year in the final quarter of 2020, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Its latest construction and infrastructure monitor show 26 per cent more respondents seeing a rise in workloads, an increase on the 3 per cent seen in Q3 and the -17 per cent in Q2.

In the residential construction sector, 12 per cent of people surveyed said there was an increase in public sector workloads and 10 per cent a rise in the private sector.

Infrastructure workloads, meanwhile, came in with a net balance of 26, far above the net balance reported in Q3 and -17 in Q2.

The private commercial sector saw a decline for the fourth quarter in a row, however, with a workload net balance of -22.

The net balance figure for positive sentiment regarding workloads in 2021 came in a 34 per cent, which Rics says is the best reading it has seen since 2019. And feeling towards employment opportunities for 2021 was reported at 17 per cent – for comparison, this stood at 03 per cent in Q3 and -20 per cent in Q2.

Profits are expected to fall though, with a net balance of -8 given – which Rics says reflects the expectation that construction costs will rise by 4 per cent within the next 12 months.

Rics chief economist Simon Rubinsohn says: “This… shows the positive impact that stimulus packages can have on the sector and the wider economy. It is now critical the government continues to focus on delivering on its ambitions around ‘levelling up’ and ‘net zero’ while building a sustainable economic recovery using the forthcoming budget to embed these goals. Green infrastructure, which has an important role to play in supporting this approach, needs to be at the forefront of the priority list.

“Although skill shortages appear to have diminished importance as a constraint in output according to the survey, our suspicion is that this reflects the current environment and is likely to re-emerge as the industry gears up over the next few years. It is thus important that a focus remains on promoting training and development across the sector to build capacity to address future challenges.”