Builders in Wales have seen a sharp drop in workloads and enquiries in the final quarter of 2022 as breaks are put on construction projects because of inflationary pressures. The latest State of Trade survey from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has found that the Welsh market activity continued to contract in the last few months of 2022 as growth in workloads and employment levels fell.
The new data for Wales shows a sharp decline in workload for Welsh builders, dropping to -8% from 18% in Q3. The number of enquiries also dramatically fell from 27% in Q3 to -8% in Q4 2022, as builders saw a significant downturn in increased workloads.
Ifan Glyn, director of FMB Cymru, said: “These results point towards a worrying trend. In the face of a housing crisis and a dire need to upgrade the energy efficiency of our homes, we need our builders to be firing from all cylinders.
