UK commercial building slump gathers speed-survey

LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Commercial building activity in the United Kingdom posted its biggest monthly fall in at least five-and-a-half years in August and was set to continue tumbling in the autumn, a key industry survey showed on Wednesday.

Property services firm Savills (SVS.L) said its Total Commercial Development Activity Index showed a net balance of minus 37.8 percent -- a record low since the data series began in 2003.

Leading property developers and building contractors were also more pessimistic about the three-month outlook than at any time in the survey's history.

(Reporting by William Kemble-Diaz; editing by Simon Jessop)

(See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Reuters).