NOW is the perfect time for new construction and refurbishment work in Lancashire, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Andrew Holt, from the Lancashire branch, said: ''Lancashire's construction industry is in quite good shape, although its belt is inevitably tightening as the economic climate begins to show.

''But with stable costs, falling interest rates and low inflation, businesses in the region can enhance their property assets so they are well placed when the economy bounces back.''

Demand for new construction work in Lancashire is expected to rise, fuelled by commercial property projects, the main engine of demand.

The buoyant leisure sector, helped by lottery and millennium funds and private finance initiatives, will also be at the forefront of what promises to be one of the most exciting times experienced by Lancashire's construction industry in recent years.

It is also a good time to work in the building industry.

Dominated by a shortage of skilled labour, the industry continues to pay bricklayers, carpenters and plasterers wages well above the level of inflation.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.