NBS and Glenigan (both part of Byggfakta Group) release their latest findings from a poll of construction professionals on the state of the country and the current election campaign.
Construction professionals are feeling pessimistic about the economy (39%) and skills shortages (35%), and almost a quarter are worried about regulatory volumes and the fast pace of rollout (24%).
Around one in five were anxious about building quality (21%), frustrated with planning complexity (23%), and generating enough business (21%). There is also concern about delivering to existing procurement models and tightening margins (17%), as well as frustration with the lack of regulatory enforcement (13%).
The recent period of high interest rates is putting construction under pressure. Four in ten construction professionals have seen project start delays (37%), payment delays (37%) and increased borrowing costs (36%). A third have experienced delays in new projects and financing difficulties, and a quarter have seen more project cancellations. Around one in five were concerned about access to finance.
Depressingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly), a quarter of construction professionals say it is hard to do business in the UK.
When construction professionals were asked which political party they most trusted to invest in the country’s crumbling infrastructure, Labour came top (42%), with the Tories a distant second at 14%. A similar number did not trust any party. Reform was at 13%, Liberal Democrats at 5%, and Greens at 3%.
One in five engineers said they would most trust the Conservative Party with capital investment.
When asked about the current election campaign’s focus, construction professionals said the following were not given enough attention: potholes (30%), crumbling infrastructure (27%), customer late payments (24%), removing VAT on retrofit (18%), and regulatory enforcement (17%).
Journalists should be relieved, as only 4% of respondents had not seen any election media coverage.
Commenting on the findings, Russell Haworth, CEO UKI of Byggfakta Group, said: “The construction sector has had a tough time of it recently, challenged by high interest rates, a housing market slowdown, and weak UK economic growth. At the same time, construction professionals are frustrated by the state of the country’s crumbling infrastructure and a blocked-up planning system. We also need sustainable construction to meet our climate goals which requires data and skills at the design stage.”
