A new survey has revealed there is a seven-year high in the amount of workload for surveyors in Scotland.

The report, compiled by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said that in the last quarter, commercial workloads continued to recover.

There are also "positive signs" to be found within the public housing sector, it added.

It is thought an unprecedented demand for housing has helped to create the additional workload, despite concerns about skills shortages in the sector. Looking at the report, 22% of surveyors said they noticed a growth in construction activity, while workloads in infrastructure saw a more balanced growth. Around 27% more surveyors saw activity levels increase throughout the country.

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The demand for skilled labourers, such as brick layers, jumped significantly since the previous quarter, with 71% of surveyors saying the workers are in demand.

Elsewhere, 43% of respondents said they expect to profits to rise, while 38% expect to hire more people over the next 12 months to meet the increasing workloads.

Commenting on the report, Sarah Speirs, RICS Scotland Director, said: "Unprecedented housing demand and the bounce back from a very deep recession are translating into prominent growth in workloads throughout Scotland.

"With a lack of housing supply identified in the recent Scottish Housing Commission reports, it is encouraging to see a growth in construction activity across housing sectors.

"Of course factors impacting construction activity, such as skill shortages and material shortages, must be addressed if we are to avoid capacity constraints, but it is equally important that the underlying framework for effective planning and delivery of projects is in place to ensure long-term construction growth that is evenly spread across the country."

(JP/CD)