24th April 2025

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published the findings of its latest Future Trends Survey, a monthly report of business and employment trends affecting the architects’ profession.

March saw the profession’s outlook for future work become increasingly positive.

March’s RIBA Workload Index rose by two balance points to +7, up from February’s figure of +5.

A positive balance indicates an overall expectation among architects that workloads will increase in the coming three months.

Twenty-seven per cent of architects’ practices anticipate an increase in workloads over the next three months, while 21% expect a decline. Fifty-two per cent expect workloads to remain stable.

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All regions now expect workloads to grow.

The outlook for three of the four monitored work sectors has improved, with increasing workloads expected in the Residential and Commercial sectors.

However, current workloads remain lower than they were a year ago. The average practice workload has decreased by 9% over the past twelve months.

At 0, the RIBA Permanent Staffing Index shows that practices are cautious about additional recruitment. Practices report staff levels to be around 3% lower than they were twelve months ago.