All house building articles – Page 7
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Private housing completions in England have dropped by more than half since the credit crunch
We all know it’s been bad in house building, but sometimes you have to look at the figures again to remind yourself just how bad things have been. The release of the latest housing figures provides that reality check, as the graph below so clearly illustrates. It's been carnage ...
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The big question for Mr Shapps
I would like to be among those welcoming Grant Shapps to his new role as housing minister and wishing him well. I must admit I have not been particularly kind to his ideas to date. It’s my job to be critical I guess.But for the record I do have a ...
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Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for
The latest round of forecasting by construction experts paints a picture little changed from three months ago with little hope of significant growth, much uncertainty and the risks to growth heavily weighted on the down side.The general pattern they expect can be seen from the graph (right).It shows that after ...
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Joy deferred as CIPS shows construction activity grows for first time in two years
So the construction activity indicator produced by the buyers’ body CIPS finally points to growth after two years of measuring falling workloads. But this seemingly uplifting moment appears to have brought little joy.The March figure popped its head above the 50 no-change mark on the back of rising activity in ...
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Is the housing market on the turn again?
Today’s release by the surveyors’ body RICS of its latest housing market survey provides a little bit of support to both sides of the will-they-won’t-they debate on house price rises.Looked at nationally, the broad measures of estate agents experiences and expectations of house prices remain positive.A majority of 17% saw ...
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Housing shortage, what housing shortage?
Few people disagree with the notion that there is a housing shortage in England. It is trotted out both as an argument for more social homes and as an underlying case for ever increasing house prices.I too subscribe to the view that we need to increase and enhance the English, ...
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118 000 a number to remember – 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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Annual orders figures reveal extent of construction freefall – a £17 billion drop in two years
The recession has ripped away from construction roughly £17 billion in annual new orders, despite £ billions more public sector sponsored work.That’s 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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Brighter outlook from forecasters, but severe risks remain
The forecasts from Hewes & Associates and Leading Edge sit interestingly against the other winter forecasts for construction output released over the past couple of weeks.They seem to back up the mood among other forecasters that construction workload might not fall as much was feared in the middle of last ...
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CIPS figures show construction activity in 2009 ending with a whimper
The buyers’ body CIPS has released its first construction statistics of the New Year and they show the industry continuing to decline in December.The construction index finished the year on 47.1, below the 50 no-change mark for the 22nd consecutive month.But there was some good news. The housing index remained ...
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Residential planning activity bounces back
The latest Government planning data on the face of it supports the view that there has been a bounce in activity within the house building sector.The topline data, released today, for residential planning decision show a fall in the September quarter compared with both the previous quarter and on the ...
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The cruelty of breeding force-fed first-time buyers
Here's a question that goes right to the heart of current housing policy: Should we be using incentives as readily as we are to encourage first-time buyers onto the property ladder?However iconoclastic or contrary this question may seem, it needs to be asked. There is so much at stake.Promoting first-time ...
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House building looks set for growth in 2010
The latest Government house building numbers strongly suggest that a shade more than 100,000 homes will be built in England in 2009.This would represent a 40% drop on the peak year of 2007 and make 2009 a record peacetime low.There are hints of hope in the figures with the starts ...
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Forecasts suggest some rays of hope, but huge uncertainty remains
For those with an optimistic nature there was some good news to be seen in the latest set of industry forecasts with both the Construction Products Association and Hewes trimming how much they feel output in the industry will fall.Indeed the three forecasts came closer together in this round of ...
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Look east to find some shelter from the storm
My good friend Martin Hewes has just past me some details of the latest Hewes & Associates forecast for new work construction output. It will not make for comfortable reading if you happen to be trading heavily in Yorkshire & Humberside.That region is set to be the hardest hit by ...