Opinion – Page 374
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Comment
Housing activity rises but prices set for further falls
The latest RICS housing market survey paints a more optimistic picture of the housing market, with evidence that confidence and activity continue to improve.The ‘new buyer enquiries' series (the balance of surveyors reporting an increase rather than a decrease in buyer interest) has been rising since November and, at 48 ...
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Comment
North-South divide develops in housing market - is it a cause for concern?
The latest housing market report from the surveyors' body RICS will provide further cheer for most of those selling homes.The June 2009 report suggests that the pace of collapse in prices continues to ease, the volume of sales has nudged up and there appear to be more buyers. And there ...
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Comment
Worst fall in output on record
The construction output figures from the Office of National Statistics covering the first quarter of 2009 highlight the true nature of the construction recession, or should we say depression, with considerable destocking leading to sharp falls in output. Total output in construction during the first quarter of 2009 fell an ...
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Comment
Construction shrinks at the fastest rate ever recorded
It was with genuine shock that I looked at the latest output figures. I was busy finishing something off when Noble Francis of the Construction Products Association called to ask if I'd seen the figures.I thought he was pulling my chain when he read over the numbers.I'm regarded as gloomy, ...
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Comment
Why you might want to raise a glass to building homes?
As we rage about the cost to the taxpayer of 80p bath plugs and the construction of elaborate duck houses, here's a figure to contemplate.For every new home built in recessionary times, each taxpayer is about 10p to 15p better off.Not a lot maybe, but see 20 homes being built ...
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CommentHansom: Rock, paper, scissors
It’s a dead heat for who’s had the worst week: a load of rockery-dwelling statues, the man faced with a mountain of company records, or a client forced to delay a – ahem – delicate procedure
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CommentThe true aim of architecture
Robert Adam’s rant (22 May, page 24) about architects and how “they like to pretend they know best about what’s good for society ... “ reminded me of a talk Buckminster Fuller gave at the school of architecture at Bristol university in 1965
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Comment
A cable to the sun
In reply to Hugh Bantin’s query about wind energy (8 May, page 32), yes, it is fickle and average output is about 30% of maximum
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Comment
Noises off
In my experience, good acoustics in schools are still viewed as a nice-to-have rather than a must-have (“Can you hear me at the back?”, 15 May, page 40)
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Comment
Good health
Regarding your article on a health scare prompting regulation change (29 May, page 13), hats off to NHBC for producing a report that takes the real world into account
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Comment
The third amendment
The Standing Joint Committee for The Standard Measurement of Building Works has prepared amendment three to the Seventh Edition, effective from 1 June.
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Comment
Messing about near boats
I work for a charity called the Waterway Recovery Group (www.wrg.org.uk) which restores the derelict canals of England and Wales
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CommentThe disaster area
Open mike: The latest data from purchasing managers confirms that construction has been one of the worst afflicted areas of the UK economy. Roy Ayliffe peers into the gloom for signs of hope
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CommentSometimes a great notion...
They say great ideas have three phases: first, they’re ludicrous, then they’re wrong and finally they’re obvious
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CommentHuman sacrifice won't help us
Kicking out apprentices and slashing training is not going to cure the recession, but it will kill the recovery. What firms need to do is keep their nerve – and their staff
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CommentWonders & blunders
Martin Playford revisits two grand schemes from the seventies, one a gleaming symbol of the might of the City, the other a sad leftover from a best-forgotten motorway project
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Comment
The disaster area
The latest CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data shows that global forces continue unremittingly to batter all UK industries, with the ailing construction industry the sick man of the economy.Indeed, construction firms’ purchasing managers say the slight improvement in operating conditions in the past month only reaffirms how bad things ...
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Comment
CIPS construction index bounces back, but what does that mean?
The latest survey by the buyers' body CIPS shows a remarkable bounce back in the broad construction index towards the magic 50 no-change mark.The index has risen from 30.9 in April to 38.1 in May and up to 45.9 in June. This will no doubt be taken as a sign ...
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Comment
Relief on the home front, but are we really on a road to recovery?
The relief among those connected with the house building and selling industries must be enormous at the moment.Following on from a set of more encouraging sales data and a fall in pessimism among estate agents, we had figures from Nationwide at the end of last week saying that house prices ...