Scottish builders expect growth

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The Scottish construction industry is expected to return to growth this year.

The annual survey from the Construction Skills Network said Scotland is likely to perform better than other parts of the UK.

The report said the strongest sector would be private housing with a growth rate of 10%.

Public housing is also expected to grow but other publicly funded projects will be hit by the squeeze on government budgets.

Work in this area is expected to decline each year until 2014.

The construction industry said it believed it would take another four years for employment levels to rise again.

Our figures show cautious optimism and it is interesting to see the areas in which we are leading the pack Graeme OgilvyConstructionSkills in Scotland

The report has highlighted what it calls "noticeable differences" in the structure of the Scottish construction sector and that of the UK.

It said one of the major differences was the importance of infrastructure in Scotland, accounting for 13% of construction output compared with a UK figure of just 7%.

There are a number of transport projects under way, including the Edinburgh tram project and the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link project.

A number of road schemes are also providing work for construction firms with completion of the M74 and the upgrade of M80 progressing while work on the A90 Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route is due to start in 2011.

Overall the construction industry is expecting an annual average growth rate of 2.8%, behind only the east of England.

This rate is substantially stronger than the projected UK figure of 1.7%.

Graeme Ogilvy, director for ConstructionSkills in Scotland, said: "The recession has hit businesses within the construction across the UK extremely hard and the forecast recovery is likely to be long and slow.

"In Scotland, our figures show cautious optimism and it is interesting to see the areas in which we are leading the pack."