The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ latest report on construction activity in the first quarter of 2009 shows a gentle easing of the sharp decline in public and private residential building but overall the market is in negative territory for the fourth consecutive quarter in a row.

A lack of finance continues to be one of the main reasons behind the slowdown and delays in public sector development projects is also hampering activity, according to the report. It also said that the outlook for the next 12 months remains downbeat.

Some 45% more surveyors reported a fall rather than a rise in overall workloads in the first quarter, up from a net balance of -47%. In the housing sector there was a slight improvement with 49% more surveyors reporting a fall rather than a rise in private housing, up from -66% and 13% reporting a fall rather than a rise in public housing, that 7% less than the previous quarter.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS’ chief economist, said: “This slight easing we are seeing in both public and private housing is broadly in line with the figures coming from the Government on the number of housing starts, which saw a small rise in the first quarter of 2009, and could be aligned to recent signs of a gentle pick-up in activity in the housing market.”

Private commercial and industrial workloads recorded the worst figures, with net balances of -57% and -61% respectively; whilst the infrastructure sector saw an accelerated pace of decline, the fastest in the surveys history, with 34% more surveyors reporting a fall than a rise.