RIBA Future Trends Survey: Outlook Remains Positive

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.

The profession’s outlook for future work remained positive in April, although expectations have softened somewhat overall, due to a fall in confidence among smaller practices.

The RIBA Future Workload Index posted a +3 balance score in April, a decrease of four points from March’s +7 figure. A positive balance indicates that practices, overall, expect  workloads to increase during the next three months.

Twenty-five per cent of practices anticipate an increase in workloads, while 22% expect a decline. Fifty-three per cent expect workloads to remain stable. 

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All but one region expects workloads to rise. The Residential and Commercial sectors are expected to grow. However, current workloads remain lower than a year ago. The average  practice workload has decreased by 8% over the past twelve months.

The RIBA Permanent Staffing Index shows that, on balance, more practices intend to increase rather than reduce the number of permanent staff over the coming three months.  However, average practice staff levels are reported to be around 3% lower than twelve months ago.

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