Opinion 鈥� Page 395
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Comment
Why record low interest rates will fail to ease house building woes
The Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates to just 2% today, the lowest in its 300 plus years, will come as a relief to some.But in reality the Bank is near powerless to influence the direction of house prices or the rate of their decline.There will be some ...
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Comment
Shock drop in Halifax house prices index spells more gloom
The Halifax has just recorded its second biggest house price fall in its 25 year history.The average price of a British home fell 2.6% in November according to the mortgage lender's figures.It means house prices have fallen on the Halifax unadjusted measure by 19% since last August and 16.2% on ...
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Comment
Repossessions may be worse than in the 1990s crash
The ubiquitous Robert Peston in his blog suggests that the Council of Mortgage Lenders has advised ministers that repossessions could rise to 75,000 next year.That would mean a return to the bleak days of the early 1990s when repossessions peaked at 75,500 in 1991, according to the CML figures.And in ...
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Comment
How chummy are you with your bank manager?
As someone close to the demise of Pettifer Construction lamented last week: "The banks are the banks".You can't argue with the logic. Nor can you argue with your lender when they decide to pull the plug.A transparent relationship may buy you some time though.Many companies are pushed under due to ...
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Comment
Import figures highlight scale of construction slowdown
Data released today showing the level of building materials imports into the UK provides a further indication of the depth of the recession facing construction.Historically the material import figures provide a good gauge for the state of the UK construction market.The data shows that in the third quarter of this ...
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Comment
Planning pipeline shows signs of drying up
A rough and ready way to judge future levels of constrution work is to look at the level of planning applications being submitted.You have got to be a bit careful about drawing conclusions too quickly, as many factors influence the decision to apply for planning consent, not just the state ...
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Comment
Construction's only salvation is for the Government to spend big
A cut in interest rates by the Bank of England at noon this Thursday is being pencilled in by most analysts and economists, the only real question appears to be how big the cut will be.This may help the struggling construction industry - but not that much. The immediate issue ...
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Comment
Construction is sinking deeper into recession
The latest construction survey from the buyers' body CIPS finds the industry plunging to new depths with civils and commercial work rapidly following the path led by the house builders.The Purchasing Managers' Index for November reached a series low of 31.8 against a no change mark of 50. And most ...
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Comment
Hometrack sees London and South East as hardest hit by price falls
Further evidence if more were needed of the fragility of the housing market was provided today by the housing data business Hometrack.The national picture shows prices down 1.1% in November and 8.1% down over the past 12 months and a continued fall in buyers and properties for sale.Sellers are also ...
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Comment
All house price indexes are flawed, but that makes them more useful
There has been a huge fuss over the Land Registry house price index with a lot of people seemingly getting hot under and over the collar.But why? What's the fuss? Is the Land Registry really behaving "criminally".Put simply, the Land Registry has made a set of assumptions on how it ...
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CommentWitholding payment
The CaseThere were a number of issues before the court. The first was whether or not the claimant's application for payment was valid and whether the engineer's certificate was valid. Second, the court was required to consider whether or not the failure to send the certificate to the correct party ...
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CommentBrown鈥檚 chance for redemption
As chancellor, Gordon Brown mismanaged our pensions for 10 years. Now he must back them up with the same guarantees that he extended to bank savings
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Comment
Get in early: the new JCT agreement
The new JCT preconstruction services agreements allow clients to employ contractors and specialists in a consultancy role before the final contract is awarded
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CommentMy digital life: Dominic Papa
This architect roams the bandwidth seeking out news, ancient books, cartoons and inspiring photography. But there鈥檚 nothing quite like a real-life Jammie Dodger and a nice cup of tea
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Comment
Rush to judgment
I was saddened to read your article concerning the fatality at the Bouygues UK site in Chelmsford (14 November, page 15), and would like to express sympathy from the GMB to friends and family of the victim.
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Comment
Take cover
I have just read the latest edition of 黑洞社区 and was dismayed by the comments contained in Rupert Choat鈥檚 article (31 October, page 72), which looked at the issues faced when the main contractor ceases to trade.
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Comment
Anybody fancy 拢1.5bn?
If the industry believes that sustainable building is going into hibernation, it is time for a wake-up call.