THE Scottish construction industry is staging a recovery, with more new projects being reported each week.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found 35% more of its members have recorded a rise in privately funded housing projects in the last three months than this time last year.
Workloads are increasing at their strongest rate for five years and there are signs the industry is turning a corner.
The latest construction market survey carried out by RICS found that, alongside house building, growth is being driven by private business and infrastructure projects as financial support is finally trickling through.
Almost a quarter more surveyors now say they expect jobs to be created as the pace of house building accelerates, while 41% expect to see the volume of work continue to rise. The increase comes as growth is reported in each part of the UK for the first time since the beginning of the market crash.
Workloads in the overall construction sector increased at their strongest rate in the past five years, although this is set against the context of the large contraction experienced since the economic downturn.
Employment prospects have also increased, with a higher proportion of surveyors expecting more jobs to be created over the next year.
However the report suggested a lack of finance remains the main factor limiting construction activity, with 75% of members noting difficulties. The figure was down 9% from the body's second-quarter survey.
The report also says that insufficient demand is now less of a problem than in previous quarters as the economy begins to steady and government policies start to encourage more activity in the housing sector.
Sarah Speirs, director of RICS Scotland, said: "While it's certainly good news that construction, and especially house building, is finally on the rise right across Scotland, we are certainly not out of the woods yet.
"Critically, we are still way behind in terms of building enough homes to meet the nation's growing housing need. The latest RICS construction market survey found that, alongside house building, growth is being driven by private commercial and infrastructure developments as funding finally begins to filter through."
The results come as RICS Scotland launches the Scottish Housing Commission, which will assess the current health of the housing market north of the border as well as the consequent challenges it faces.
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