Construction work in the south-east of England rose in the first quarter of this year, according to a recent survey.
Overall, the latest UK Construction Market Survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has reported a positive balance of two per cent of respondents posting an increase rather than decline in workloads in the first three months of 2010.
This marks the first time in two years that the figure has turned positive, having suffered a net balance of minus 15 per cent in the last three months of 2009, the organisation said.
All sectors showed growth, breaking seven consecutive quarters of falls, with the commercial workloads increasing from a net balance of minus 14 per cent to plus 32 per cent since the final quarter of last year.
Nick Whitten, business editor at Construction News, said that expected cuts in commissions from the public sector as government spending is slashed would need to be offset by an improvement in private tenders.
There were, however, wide variations between regions with the south-east and London reporting the best performances and negative balances seen in the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Written by Andrew Miles
