Election knocks architects’ confidence to seven-year low

Architects’ pessimism worsened last month after the latest Future Trends survey remained in negative territory for the second month running.

It is the first time the workload index has been stuck in the red for two successive months since 2012. The score in October this year fell six points to -10.

Confidence in Wales and the west of England collapsed from 0 to -25 with firms in London and the south again also posting negative scores.

The RIBA’s executive director of professional services, Adrian Dobson, warned the situation wouldn’t improve this month either.

“It would be reasonable to expect continued concern in November’s figures, following the calling of the general election,” he said.

All the survey’s four profiled sectors, including private housing and commercial, recorded negative scores.

Small practices - with fewer than 10 staff - were the least confident.

Meanwhile, the Future Trends staffing index, which measures expectations of the number of permanent staff over the next three months, fell four points to -1 in October.