Opinion – Page 384
-
Comment
Homeowners turn their backs on using their homes as a bank
I was intrigued by the response from the surveyors' body RICS to the latest Bank of England figures for Housing Equity Withdrawal.The figures show a continuation in the rapid repayment of housing debt, as the graph below shows, and this will have had a major impact on the recent decline ...
-
Comment
Brown shoots are the new green shoots
At a meeting recently I was chastised for being rather too glum, so I have been casting around of late for more colourful topics in these black times for construction.Positives are rather hard to find, but I had an interesting conversation this morning with an industry contact who has been ...
-
CommentAbout time, too
It may not float everyone’s boat, but the arrival (finally) of fresh QS Rules of Measurement is pretty exciting for cost managers. And they’re looking good, says Richard Steer
-
CommentWonders & blunders: Keith Bradley, Feilden Clegg Bradley
Keith Bradley loves his hometown of Bath. The old city of pleasure, with its meandering crescents, that is. Not the faux-Georgian monstrosity of the Southgate shopping centre
-
CommentDon’t lose your balance
Affordable housing may be one of the few lifelines for builders at the moment, but we must make sure we don’t fall back into the trap of creating ghettos for the poor
-
CommentHobbies and/or interests
In tough times, it’s important to distract yourself with such activities as theatre rehearsals, horse racing and … er … whatever a former construction minister got up to in the House of Commons
-
CommentDon’t encourage them
As with the banking industry, we’ve seen an age where architectural incompetence and buffoonery was rewarded over professionalism
-
Comment
Accentuate the positive
The role of all professionals in development and construction is already changing as a result of the recession
-
Comment
Cut it out
I have just read your article “Robinson Low Francis slash staff pay 12.5%” (13 March, page 15)
-
Comment
Keep the dream alive
Your article, “Death of a dream” (13 February, page 40) is perhaps to be questioned
-
Comment
Figure it out
Re: ‘Colleges delayed’, 20 February, page 10, BAM Construction has 11 colleges currently at approval in design stage and waiting further substantial funding from the Learning and Skills Council
-
Comment
Keep off my land
I would preface my comments by stating that I was brought up on a social housing estate. Our argument is not with social housing tenants but the fact we have been deceived by Bellway (6 March, page 20)
-
CommentClients: what are they like?
Which clients deserve a medal? Which should be shunned like yellow dogs?
-
Comment
Sorry to be a party pooper, but hold fire on bigging up the mortgage figures
There has been much joy in the housing sector at the news that the number and amount of home loans approved by banks grew for the third consecutive month in February, according to the British Bankers' Association.While this is clearly not more bad news for housing and homes loans businesses ...
-
Comment
Not a good time to be taking risks
What do the latest inflation figures tell us?Firstly, we are set for a heightening of the row between the quantitative easers and those leaning towards the views of the Austrian school on the matter of pumping money into a busted boom. Put simply what should we fear most: deflation or ...
-
Comment
Are construction's vital job statistics wrong?
Following the release of numbers suggesting construction jobs increased by 47,000 over 2008 I asked for clarification from the statisticians. To my mind and in the view of anyone in the industry I have spoken to these figures were wildly wrong.I have now received my reply from the Office of ...
-
CommentHansom: Look at me!
Attention-seeking strategies were the order of the day at Mipim – from Twittering to leaping from moving buses – but if you find yourself in Bogotá, it’s probably best to keep your head down...
-
Comment
Tough choices...
As a partner in the Sector Skills Council for construction, CITB-ConstructionSkills takes the development of professionals seriously (27 March, page 13)
-
Comment
...And easy ones
I have just been reading the debate about the proposed changes to the Construction Act. The amendments have reached a key stage in the process of becoming law and are about to be adopted unless someone does something about it. And they should!
-
CommentWhat a larch
We were interested to see the images you published on the front cover (27 February) of the design of York St John University