The FMB’s state of trade survey for the second quarter of this year show workloads are up 7% and enquiries have increased by 3% over the past three months.
FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “The FMB’s latest survey for Q2 2024 has shown continued stability. While this represents a clear improvement on the challenging market conditions SME builders were experiencing in late 2023, and offers a glimmer of hope for the future, there is still substantial room for improvement.
“Increasing workloads are a positive sign that the construction industry is slowly growing. However, firms are continuing to face difficulties in recruitment, which has been an ongoing issue. It's also worrying to see a significant rise in the number of businesses reporting lower than expected profits this quarter, 55%, up from 44% in Q1 2024, which shows the challenges the UK continues to face.”
He added: “The new government has used its early weeks in office to announce promising plans to boost house building rates and reform the planning system, which may result in a much-needed economic stimulus. However, the UK is currently experiencing a construction skills crisis, and concerns remain about viability without the workforce in place to deliver new homes. The Prime Minister’s speech laying the groundwork for Skills England was hopeful but lacked detail. We need to see a long-term skills plan to deliver the government's ambitions for growth.”
The latest survey reveals that there has been a slight increase in total workloads with a slight decrease in total enquiries: 42% of FMB members reported a decrease in enquiries with 33% seeing an increase.
The skills shortage continues to apply pressure, said the FMB. The survey found that 41% of members are struggling to hire carpenters (up from 31% in the first quarter) and 29% are struggling to find bricklayers (up from 25% in the previous quarter).
Overall, 43% of FMB members have reported job delays resulting from a shortage of skilled tradespeople, up from 36% in the first quarter of 2024.
However a slightly reduced number of members reported increases in materials costs in the second quarter of the year: 64%, compared with 69% in the first quarter. Nevertheless, the impact of increased outgoings has led to 67% of members to increase their prices.
More than half of FMB members (52%) reported that their business in on track to make a loss or fall below expected margins, significantly up on 44% in the first quarter of 2024. And 10% of members report having had to make staff redundant or terminate contracts due to cost pressures, slightly up from 9% previously.
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