Future Trends survey reveals boost for private housing sector

The results of June's survey of architects, conducted on behalf of the RIBA, shows a 13 per cent month-on-month rise in the number of practices forecasting an increase in workload from the private housing sector.

The RIBA Future Trends Survey provides a monthly yardstick of workload expectations and employment prospects among architects, based on the responses of a cross section of small, medium and large practices.

Responses to the June survey once again highlighted overall increased levels of optimism. Practices predicting an increase in workload rose from 27 per cent in May to 31 per cent in June. The biggest rise by far was among those working in the private housing sector, up from 11 per cent to 24 per cent. Expectations for growth in commercial work rose from 11 per cent in May to 13 per cent in June, while public sector workload predictions suffered a slight decline month-on-month from 23 to 16 per cent.

The news for those concerned about job stability was good. The number of practices expecting staff numbers to be cut decreased 7 per cent, from 23 to 16, while three quarters (75 per cent) of all practices now predict that staff levels will remain constant over the next quarter.

"The June results mark the end of the first six months of the RIBA Future Trends Survey," says Adrian Dobson, Director of Practice at the RIBA. "We've witnessed a slow but steady return to some confidence and optimism within the profession during the course of the last quarter.

"For the first time, practices are now predicting that workloads will stabilise over the next quarter. This is the most optimistic workload forecast since the Survey was launched in January 2009, perhaps indicating the first sign of the market for architectural services bottoming out."

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