RIBA Future Trends Survey Indicates Workloads Will Remain Broadly Flat

The RIBA Workload Index, which measures architects’ sentiment over construction activity to come, was +1 in July, slower than June’s +4 balance, highlighting architects’ expectations that workloads will broadly remain flat in the next three months. Within this, 23% of architects anticipated a rise in workloads, whilst 22% expected a decline, but the majority, 54%, expected stable workloads.

The regional picture was mixed, with Northern areas remaining positive, whilst architects in the South and London were increasingly pessimistic over future work in July. Diminishing optimism was due to expected declining work for smaller firms, having been positive in the previous two months, but the outlook for medium and large practices remained strong and improved.

Overall, there is a sense that the market is slowly improving but that it will take time before this translates into significantly increased workloads.

Read the full RIBA Future Trends Survey for July 2024.