Activity in the construction industry hasfallen at its fastest rate in more than a decade as the credit crunchtightens its grip on the house building sector.A reportfrom the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors shows workloads inthe past quarter declined at their fastest pace since 1995. The private housing sector suffered most with nearly 40 per cent of surveyors reporting a fall in workloads. Optimismacross the industry is at it lowest levels since the survey began in1994. Two-thirds of construction surveyors said they expect profitsmargins to continue to fall.David Stubbs, senior economist at the RICS, said workloads are no longer simply slowing, but are falling in almost every sector.“Thisdecline can be attributed to the lack of availability of debt financesand the fall in prices, which is taking its toll on developers. If thispattern continues then the industry will have to start makingsignificant cut backs,” he said.Stubbs added the government may find it difficult to meet its house building targets as a result.Theonly areas reporting a marginal increase in activity wereinfrastructural and private industrial sectors, according to theresearch.
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