RIBA estimates work is 25% down on 2007 levels
The RIBA has said current values of architectural work in progress across the industry is around a quarter below its pre-recession peak.
Its latest Future Trends survey has again said all regions of the UK are positive about upcoming work with the overall score remaining at +29 – the same as December’s figure.
But RIBA director of practice Adrian Dobson said: “We estimate the total value of work in progress remains some 25% below its pre-recessionary peak. This illustrates that there remains significant potential for further growth in the demand for architectural services – if the economic recovery maintains momentum.”
Workloads over the past 18 months have grown at 6-8%, Dobson said and he added: “We have seen a steady decrease in the number of our respondents reporting that they had personally been under-employed in the last month and this suggests that most of the spare capacity retained within the profession during the recession is now being productively employed. We therefore anticipate more substantial growth in overall employment levels in 2015.”
The RIBA has also started to track quarterly staffing levels with overall staff levels up 2% on a year ago. Dobson said: “Although we are not yet recording a dramatic increase in overall staffing levels, we are seeing evidence of some practices encountering difficulties in attracting new staff with the right mix of skills and experience.”
Private housing and commercial are the sectors architects are most optimistic about with confidence dipping for public sector and community sector workloads – at +6 and +3 respectively.
Source
This story first appeared on Building Design here.
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