According to a survey by Skrap — an on-demand construction hire specialist — 23% of businesses felt they would hit at least 2019 revenue levels and possibly see a 20% increase.

This is despite 63% of companies still waiting to be paid, on average, £47,784 for work they did pre-lock down — an improvement from June 2020, when they were waiting for an average of £157,642.

Of the work that is being done, building contractors are seeing the greatest demand from residential projects (48%) and public sector work (30%), such as roadworks and in schools.

“Although building activity shrunk during the lockdown, this survey provides a cautious note of optimism for the construction industry," commented Hussain Hilli, co-founder at Skrap.

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He said it was not surprising the “wave of optimism” came from residential work, as people continue to work from home and consider their new needs. 

“The decision to scrap stamp duty on homes below £500,000 has also got homeowners active. 

“Government policies are taking effect and builders are benefitting, but a lot will rest on how investors see Brexit playing out on the UK economy."

Jamie Herd, MD at Lords Builders’ Merchants, said: “We’ve seen sales of supplies increase steadily over the past three months, and orders to the end of 2020 look good, especially in London and the home counties. 

“The government’s favourable loan schemes have boosted the cash flow of construction businesses to enable them to continue their work and, overall, there is a bullish mood that work is returning to normal in the industry.”

Almost half of builders (46%) said they had benefited from the government’s recent ‘Build, Build, Build’ initiative, and were expecting more contracts from this in the next few months. 

However, they do feel that investment in housebuilding developments is being held back.

This is mainly due to investors being wary of valuations given the impact Brexit could have on the economy, coupled with the lack of urgency from the government to support the infrastructure need. 

Despite the current positive outlook, builders fear the biggest disruption to business will be a second wave of Covid-19 cases, leading to another mass lockdown impacting delivery and demand of projects.

In terms of Brexit, the majority of construction businesses that participated in the survey said they are confident there will be little fallout from a no-deal.

These research findings are based on a survey of 2,000 UK construction companies (who are employers with a minimum turnover of £250,000) conducted in September this year by LM Research & Marketing Consultancy.