Housing construction slows
A recent poll by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reportedly found that the level of construction work in the private housing sector is rising at the slowest pace since 2013, this comes despite the huge commitment to the sector by the government.
A shortage of skilled labour in the building sector, in particular ‘bricklayers’ along with financial constraints and planning delays contributed to this slowdown, skills shortages have driven average wages up by 7pc in the year to January.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, reportedly said that he “cannot discount the climate of uncertainty caused by the forthcoming EU referendum.
“We know that a range of sectors have been affected by these issues as investors look to delay any decisions until a final outcome has been determined, and construction is no exception.”