The decline in activity in the construction industry is the steepest in seven years, according to last month’s survey of construction purchasing managers.

It has been suggested that the primary factor affecting July’s business activity in the commercial building sector was the economic uncertainty in the wake of the EU referendum.

In July, the seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) registered a score of 45.9, which was a fraction down from June’s 46.0 figure and the second consecutive month below the 50.0 no-change mark.

The construction output decline last month was the steepest overall since June 2009, which was at the height of the economic crisis.

The biggest faller was commercial building, though activity in civil engineering also slowed for the first time this year.

July also saw residential construction decline at a fair rate, however the rate of construction eased from the previous month’s three and a half year low.

Respondents to the survey also notes that the economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote has made clients less confident, resulting in greater risk aversion and an encouraging a ‘wait and see’ approach to decision making.

However, the survey did also indicate that overall demand had shown some resilience in July, in particular infrastructure and house building schemes.

For the first time since May 2013, employment numbers declined due to a lack of new work to replace completed projects, although respondents to the survey insisted that it is not at the stage where employees will have to be laid off, rather voluntary leavers are often not being replaced.

The availability of subcontractors increased to its fastest rate since September 2012 and this weakening demand for subcontractors resulted in the slowest rise in their average charges for over three years.

The prices of materials also increased at their steepest rate since March last year, even though demand for inputs fell.