Opinion – Page 417
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CommentPublic madness
Not another one! That is the initial reaction to the news that the Rafael Viñoly-designed visual arts centre in Colchester languishes unfinished while its contractor and client squabble over the escalating budget.
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Inflation tsunami flattens construction prospects
I recognise that I have said this time and again and probably will say it a few times more - but don't underplay the impact of rising inflation.I can already hear echoes of overexcited managment consultants suggesting to clients to take note of what is rising in the east and ...
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Keeping it real
I received an interesting email from Ray Crotty of C3 systems some days ago now. It was in essence a challenge to look at the industry over 20 or 30 years and see if "we're seeing anything now that we haven't seen before in terms of economic adjustment at work ...
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Fresh dip in mortgage lending spells deepening gloom for housing market
The latest figures from the British Bankers' Association make seriously grim reading. The seasonally adjusted value of loans approved in June for homes dropped to a third of what it was in the same month a year ago.The figures read: £3,297 million June 2008 against the already pitiful £4,243 million ...
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Plunging house sales create major tax headache for Darling
If I were the Chancellor looking at the latest property transaction figures I wouldn't be worried, I'd be very worried.At 270,000 transactions for residential property in the second quarter, we are looking at a housing market about 38% less active than a year ago, when 432,000 transactions were undertaken in ...
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RICS figures suggest commercial building market is heading for a beating
The release of some pretty nasty survey results on the commercial property market from the surveyors body RICS is far from the sort of fare one would have served up just before heading off on holiday, but there it is. Bleak, with spiky curves heading in just the directions you ...
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What makes the latest Rightmove figures significant
Let's face it predicting house price movements is like trying to forecast the British weather. You can have a vague clue from the available data, but you are likely to be onto a loser more often than not if you try to pin down how things will turn out in ...
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CommentHansom: curiouser and curiouser
As the economic world disappears down the rabbit hole, we find ourselves in a strange land where no email is quite as it seems, consultants befriend barn owls and masked builders roam the Orient
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And now for the good news - Treasury set to widen the goalposts
I am not really sure why I was surprised to hear Nick Robinson on the BBC news last night confirming an FT story due to run today about the Treasury changing the borrowing rule set by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor.It seemed clear that Government debt was set ...
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CommentData protection: The prying game
The monitoring of individuals is accepted practice today, but be careful how you use the data, as those being watched still have a right to privacy, says Angus Darroch-Warren
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CommentOur digital lives - Stef & Stelio Stefanou
Stef and Stelio Stefanou’s real lives look similar on paper. So Charlotte Matheson is surprised to discover that the brothers’ online habits are as different as … WA Mozart and Amy Winehouse
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CommentThese are all mistakes
After superb journalistic sleuthing (and a case of Scotch in the right hands) we have a draft of the next report to shake up construction. Chris Addison runs through the main points
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for John Doyle
Chosen watering hole: Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Ambience: Rambling spit’n’sawdust joint for the not-quite-in-the-City worker Topics of conversation: Yorkshire, the Moseley trial, the housing market, the rest of the market Drinks drunk: 10 pints bitter, 4 pints lager, 2 glasses red wine, 6 glasses white wine, 3 cokes
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Doesn't measure up
I criticised the RICS for years and wrote several times seeking changes in favour of its members, particularly a review of its budget so that the annual subscription fees could be reduced.
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Bad start for Boris
I see Boris Johnson, the London mayor, plans to reinstate Parker Morris space standards in London’s new housing (27 June, page 12).
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CommentChinese whispers
Li Shirong, from the Chongqing Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Commission, has a mission to promote development and investment in her city.
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Fast track to the future
The government’s announcement on 23 June about speeding up the Building Schools For the Future programme is very welcome.
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Let’s start at the very beginning
Your article “Government failing on sustainable procurement” (4 June, www.building.co.uk) emphasised the importance of sustainable procurement practices in the construction industry.
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