‘Considerable growth’ of local construction industry

A house-building boom in Northern Ireland has fuelled substantial growth in the construction sector, a new report has revealed.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) also said new houses have been built at a faster rate in the past three months compared with the last 13 years.

The house-building explosion is described as fuelling “the considerable growth of the local construction industry” and the report revealed there has also been “strong growth in commercial and infrastructure building work.”

More than two thirds of chartered surveyors in Northern Ireland who responded to the survey reported a rise in private housing workloads, with some 60% reporting a rise in private commercial work. A quarter also detailed a rise in infrastructure workloads.

RICS Northern Ireland construction spokesman, John Davidson, said: “Of all the UK regions only Scotland saw more rapid growth in construction workloads during the last quarter.

“In Northern Ireland the private housing sector was the main driver, though big increases were also reported in infrastructures and private commercial sectors – the latter enjoyed more rapid growth than at any time in the past seven years.”

Mr Davidson also said that the establishment of the new Executive would mean there are high expectations of increases in both workloads and employment.

He added: “It is also likely that the current high level of private housing activity will intensify in the coming months.”

“It is also important to look at the gender balance in the industry and to consider how more women can be recruited into the profession, in addition to looking overseas to help plug the gap,” he concluded.

(JM/KMcA)