Construction workloads in Wales fell in Q3 2025 for the first time since the end of 2023 according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Construction Monitor, and surveyors’ sentiment for the year ahead has deteriorated.
A net balance of -7% of survey respondents in Wales reported a fall in overall construction activity in the quarter, which is the lowest this balance has been since Q4 2023.
Public and private house building were the only two subsectors to see rises in activity with net balances of 11% and 6% respectively. But these balances are lower than in the Q2 survey, contributing to the more challenging picture.
All other subsectors saw declines in activity: other public works (a net balance of -8%), private commercial (a net balance of -17%), infrastructure (a net balance of -22%) and private industrial (a net balance of -39%).
The challenging environment is weighing on the outlook too. Surveyors in Wales now expect workloads to be broadly flat over the next year (a net balance of 3%), which is down from the 14% seen in Q2.
When it comes to profit margins, surveyors in Wales expect that these to be fall over the next 12-months. A net balance of -26% of Welsh respondents anticipate that profit margins will be squeezed over the next year.
Despite the lower workloads in the sector, Welsh surveyors continue to report shortages in skilled workers, but, overall, less so than seen previously. 44% report a shortage in quantity surveyors, down from 58% in Q2, and 41% note a shortfall in other construction professionals, down from 46% seen in the quarter previous. 50% report a deficit in bricklayers, which is broadly consistent with the figure reported in the Q2 survey.
Discussing factors impacting the market, Nicholas Soady of RPA in Cardiff notes that the planning process is slowing projects down and James Sumner of Bowen in Wrexham adds that a lack of available trade skills and contractor resources and the increasing daily rates of those individuals.
