A weak private house building sector has not prevented UK construction activity from growing steadily, says a report out today by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

After a big leap in the previous quarter, growth in private house building was slower over the last three months with only 10% more chartered surveyors reporting a rise than a fall in workloads compared to 29% the previous quarter. The deceleration was expected after this hectic pace of expansion. Overall, the industry is yet to feel the benefit of higher demand in the UK housing market.

The private sector is lending strength in the form of significant gains in private industrial and commercial projects, indicating that the mild slowdown in economic growth of the past year has come to an end and businesses may be preparing to invest.

Public projects continue to be a fertile source of work with levels of infrastructure building rebounding strongly. However, profit expectations are currently being dampened by high material and energy prices. Nevertheless, many industry professionals believe high prices will be more than offset by higher business demand later in the year and profits are expected to rise accordingly.

RICS economist David Stubbs said: "Construction companies are still troubled by rising costs but the overall picture is of an industry that has staved off any marked slowdown and is well placed to grow in line with increased business demand later in the year."

"Public sector investment is set to grow rapidly and the industry should soon start to reflect the pick up in housing market activity."