House building in Yorkshire continues to rise, according to latest RICS survey

During the third quarter of the year, a net balance of 34 per cent more respondents in Yorkshire and the Humber reported rises in privately-funded housing projects compared with the previous period (from +30 per cent in the second quarter).

Significantly, across the country, this is the first time that every region has reported growth since the beginning of the market crash six years ago and demonstrates that the long-awaited upturn in numbers of new homes may finally be underway.

The overall construction sector in the region saw a welcome boost during the three months to September, with workloads rising at their strongest rate since the fourth quarter of 2004 (net balance +31 per cent).

Alongside housebuilding, this growth was largely driven by private commercial developments as funding finally begins to filter through to actual shovels in the ground. This will prove welcome news to an economy that has seen construction struggle considerably for some time.

As the summer months drew to a close, there was also good news for employment prospects with a net balance of 39 per cent of surveyors in the area expecting more jobs to be created in the sector over the next 12 months.

This was already being reflected in a jump in reported skill shortages, highlighting the potential for capacity issues if the recovery continues to gather pace.

Surveyors are now expecting a sharp acceleration in business activity over the next 12 months, with a net balance of 61 per cent of respondents expecting the volume of work to increase further next year.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “While it’s certainly good news that construction – and especially housebuilding – is finally on the rise right across the UK, we are certainly not out of the woods yet. Critically, we’re still way behind in terms of building enough homes to meet the nation’s growing housing need and overall construction projects are at a historical low. In the face of this challenge, it is a particularly concerning that we are already receiving reports of some skill shortages as well as capacity constraints for some building materials, such as bricks.”