Opinion – Page 409
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Comment
South West housing deals hit hardest as market slowed
If the health of the housing market is a function of turnover and price growth then the amount of stamp duty taken from residential sales should provide a fairly good means of diagnosis. In rough and ready terms.So it was interesting to see how each region fared in the regional ...
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Comment
Is buy-to-let really screwed? No, according to the figures. But...
What is all this about the "particularly hard-hit buy-to-let market" I keep hearing about in reports about the demise of Bradford & Bingley?The thing is, I tend to follow the figures a bit and was not aware of any of the "reliable" variety that had pointed to BTL being "particularly ...
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Comment
Are house prices sliding towards a cliff?
A snap survey by RICS has backed up the figures produced by Hometrack that homebuyers are demanding increasingly savage discounts from sellers.Hometrack puts that average discount at 10%, whereas RICS suggests 9%. But either way there will be a spread around that figure, so there will be some pretty deep ...
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CommentMaking this country grate
How can we beat Beijing at hosting Olympic Games and improve our place in the medal table? Well, we can make the most of our Britishness. Chris Addison explains how
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CommentEnterprise Managed Services Limited v East Midland Contracting Limited
The CaseThe Claimant sought to reverse the decision of an adjudicator, by which the adjudicator had decided that the Claimant was obliged to pay the Defendant the sum of £1,131,668.29 as damages for breach of contract. The parties to the Sub-Contract continued to place orders and undertake work under the ...
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CommentSustainable? They’re having you on
Much of what passes for sustainable architecture is nothing of the sort; it’s PR masquerading as environmental engineering. Robert Adam tells us what green building really means
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CommentThe camera sometimes lies
Open mike Thermal imaging is an invaluable tool, but beware: in the wrong hands, those pretty pictures don’t always tell the full story, says Rod Appleyard
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CommentInsolvency law: Flogging a dead horse
Despite changes to the law since the last recession, Chris Hill and Amanda Greenwood say that, as far as insolvency is concerned, adjudication rights are unclear
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CommentWebmaster review: Foster + Partners website
Architect Foster + Partners' website, fosterandpartners.com, scores well on usability but badly needssome search engine optimisation
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Comment
Housing market grinding to a standstill, says Hometrack
There is further evidence that the housing market is grinding to a standstill in the latest monthly figures provided by Hometrack.Hometrack figures put the annual drop in average prices at about 6.2%. This is a more modest drop than the figures produced by Nationwide and Halifax, but as I have ...
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CommentThe Games people play
I very much enjoyed reading your article on the 1908 Olympics (5 September, page 42), but noticed a couple of historical errors.
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Comment
Insulation for the nation
Regarding plans to insulate all UK homes by 2020, the level of energy efficiency necessary to achieve carbon emissions reductions is four times higher than that which cavity wall and loft insulation can provide.
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Comment
Let’s get one thing straight
With reference to “Movers and makers” (5 September, page 74): the article announced that PVCu window maker Duraflex had received approval from Birmingham council for its A-class system for doors and windows.
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Comment
Building buys a pint … for Elementa Consulting
Chosen venue: The George, Borough High Street Ambience: Olde Worlde pub crowded with not so olde worlde afterwork drinkers Topics: sustainable pubs, softball and water divining Drinks: 7 pints of Guinness, 4.5 pints of bitter, 1 pint of Fosters, a half of Becks, 2 white wines
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CommentTopsy-turvy
Architects get mistaken for moneylenders, engineers try to be journalists and there’s snow on the horizon in Saudi Arabia. All in all, it’s been a rather bizarre week …
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CommentMy digital life: Chris Lynn
Engineer and sports addict Chris Lynn is happy to admit he uses his computer to play games, watch the Olympics and visit football websites, but is a bit more secretive about the present he’s bought his wife
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CommentSupersizing Cabe
Cabe is happy to condemn the work of ‘commercial’ practices but seems rather reluctant to do the same for the A-listers, such as Rafael Viñoly’s Walkie-talkie
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Comment
Now here's a thing
Might the solution to the Olympic officials' worries over filling the skills gap left by returning Polish workers be staring them in the face?There's a property-led recession in Ireland that is freeing up construction workers at a fair rate of knots?Mind you, perhaps they need look no further than our ...