Opinion 鈥� Page 340
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Comment
118 000 a number to remember 鈥� 240 000 a number best forgotten
118,000: The number of new homes that were completed in England in 2009, according to the latest official data.240,000: The number of new homes to be created annually in England from 2016, according to the targets set when Yvette Cooper, Minister for Housing and Planning at the time, announced the ...
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Comment
Fewer redundancy in construction, but the future remains bleak on jobs
For the optimists in the construction industry there is much hope to be gleaned from the latest employment figures.Equally for the pessimists there is plenty within the numbers to fret about.So what should we make of the latest batch of labour market numbers that, among other things, show that 163,000 ...
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CommentPhilosophical advice
University spending is vanishing, but that doesn't meant this is another LSC debacle
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Comment
RICS sees workload slump deeper in late 2009 - providing more fare for the double-dippers
It鈥檚 tempting to see the latest construction market survey by the surveyors鈥� body RICS as yet more evidence of a likely double dip in construction 鈥� however you want to define that.And I鈥檓 not going to sit here and argue against that possibility.But there is a case for some cautious ...
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Help us out
I found 好色先生TV鈥檚 report from the Construction Skills Network a depressing read (鈥淐onstruction will be 鈥榠n recession till 2011,鈥欌�� 27 January, building.co.uk)
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Top security
I have read with interest the response in these pages to the fires at the Green Acre Homes鈥� Peckham and Camberwell building sites, and how many people seem to believe that the security issues surrounding these fires can be addressed with a generic solution
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In the mix
Your coverage of our results on page 16 of last Friday鈥檚 issue, 5 February, was led by a most unfortunate sub-headline that stated that Countryside Properties 鈥渞ues its exposure to mixed-tenure regeneration market鈥�
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CommentSir Michael Latham: The triumph of ConstructionSkills鈥� diploma
ConstructionSkills鈥� diploma is already proving a success with pupils. If employers continue to back it, it will make a huge difference to our training effort, says Sir Michael Latham
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Comment
Wonders & blunders
Esther Rantzen heaps praise on the improvised brilliance of Salisbury cathedral, and pours vitriol on the badly built eyesore that is Luton鈥檚 Library Road car park
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CommentIn your own time
While Tory campaign managers, a finance director and a London mayor show up long past the hour appointed, a certain Nick Raynsford will just be glad to be invited back
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Comment
Annual orders figures reveal extent of construction freefall 鈥� a 拢17 billion drop in two years
The recession has ripped away from construction roughly 拢17 billion in annual new orders, despite 拢 billions more public sector sponsored work.That鈥檚 the clear message to me from the annual tot up of the new orders won by contractors released today.Forget the niceties of which sector is doing how well ...
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Comment
Was it just the cold or is it a relapse?
There are plenty of people, 鈥渆xperts鈥� indeed, who fully expect a double-dip recession for both the economy and, for that matter, house prices.For them the data emerging for January鈥檚 performance appears to be, albeit gently, vindicating their position. They will no doubt seize with alacrity the retail figures from the ...
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Comment
How quickly can the Government cut back on construction spending?
It was put to me recently that, despite all talk of cuts to capital spending, many contractors held the view that UK governments have never managed to make cuts of more than 10% year on year.I wasn鈥檛 quite sure what to make of this, but three things struck me.Firstly: I ...
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Comment
Government burglars
As Brian Green points out in his column on drumming up work, the government has pretty much kept the industry in business during the recession. About 40% of construction work undertaken in Britain is bought by the taxpayer, compared with 31% in the days when Northern Rock was just a ...
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Comment
Bulls in the housing futures market turn sheepish
There has been a sharp change of mood among the traders of housing futures who punt large sums on the level of house prices at given years ahead.Traders had turned bullish last autumn and even at the end of the year the Tradition Future HPI was showing a projected ...
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CommentThe little Ceausescus
When it comes to making changes to listed buildings, planners and conservation authorities are often unhelpful, ill-informed, and obstructive to the point of malice