MONEYWEB app instead? Covid-19 impact, office vacancy rates and rental payment levels prove stifling. 00:01 Non-residential construction has been one of the hardest hit sectors in the economy. Image: Dwayne Senior, Bloomberg The significant and long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on the office market, together with high office vacancy rates and poor rental payment rates, appear likely to stifle any rapid recovery of private sector building activity. Construction market intelligence firm Industry Insight reports that private sector building activity has now slowed to its lowest level since 1994. INSIDERGOLD Subscribe for full access to all our share and unit trust data tools, our award-winning articles, and support quality journalism in the process.