The UK construction industry continued to stall during the final three months of 2011, as doubts were cast over the government's ability to boost private funding to deliver on proposed infrastructure projects, according to the latest RICS Construction Market Survey.

Only 14% of surveyors stated they felt the government would be successful in their Autumn Statement pledge and generate sufficient institutional funding for planned infrastructure projects. There was also a healthy degree of scepticism about the Get Britain Building Fund, with only a quarter of surveyors across the UK believing that it would have a positive impact on the sector.

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This rather pessimistic assessment reflected the overall position of the industry in the final quarter of the year, with a net balance of 7% more respondents reporting falling overall workloads.

Once again, there was a divergence between private and public sector workloads. Private sector construction remained relatively flat towards the end of 2011 whereas overall public projects continued to fall, with 17% more surveyors reporting falls rather than rises in levels of public housing construction.

Across the UK, the north-south divide was once again in evidence with only London and the South East reporting positive net balance readings. Significantly, there were also no signs that the pressure being felt by the SME sector was lessening. Indeed, a small majority of respondents saw recent government initiatives as being unhelpful for this segment of the industry.

(CD/GK)