Opinion – Page 421
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CommentThe flood plan
Amazingly, we’ve got yet another challenge to contend with when we build, but this time it’s long overdue.
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CommentWebmaster review: London Festival of Architecture website
How easy does the London Festival of Architecture's website – www.lfa2008.org – make it for people to get involved in and find out about the activities?
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Dilapidations: Repairing the damage
Some landlords have sneakily been asking tenants who have quit to pay for repairs they never intended to carry out. It’s in the hands of surveyors to stamp out the practice
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CommentMy digital life Andrew Best
The Buro Happold partner’s digital life is 007-heaven, with international poker, gadgets, MI5 and private members’ clubs. He doesn’t care to discuss it online, though … Very hush-hush, you see
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When housing market crash meets dot.bomb
For anyone keen to explore the deeper reaches of the effects caused by a slowdown in the housing market here is one for the files.Moneysupermarket.com appears to be seeking to quell investor fears about the impact of "extremely challenging" conditions in its mortgages and loans business.
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We still need 3 million homes by 2020, says official adviser
The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU) set up to provide advice on making homes affordable today released its latest advice on how many homes England needs by 2020.The range of extra homes the unit says are needed by 2020 is between 2,957,000 and 3,475,900. That means an addition ...
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Why so gloomy?
There is a lot of economic gloom about at the moment.Here, Merryn Somerset Webb, editor of Money Week, puts forward a very good case in defence of being gloomy.Anyone care to put a counter argument?
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Myths that provide comfort No 1: House prices and unemployment
It is popularly thought and much asserted that the trigger for the house price crash of the early 1990s was rising unemployment.Indeed, the Government, although with decreasing vigour of late, likes to point to the strong UK employment figures and suggest that these will help sustain residential property prices.The ...
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US house prices down 18% from the peak
What happens in the US housing market is becoming increasingly of interest this side of the Atlantic, as confused pundits scratch around for any clues as to what might be in store for the UK.No longer is there a broad sense of confidence that we are immune to what was ...
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"There is no housing market"
It is always a worthwhile experience chatting to Hometrack's Richard Donnell, there are always ideas and sparks of ideas.Having tracked him down this morning we talked, unsurprisingly, about the weirdness of the housing market. He made one particular comment that caught my ear."There is no housing market," he threw in ...
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CommentFirst impressions: Projects by Foster + Partners and Hadid
Another First Impression panellist, this time James Procter from the School of Architecture at Westminster University, comments on new projects on the Building website
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House sales drop a third as credit crunch bites
The latest transaction figures from HM Revenue & Customs underline the industry fears of a collapse in home sales.They show that sales of property worth more than £40,000 have fallen by more than a third since the credit crunch hit. This May's figure of 98,000 transactions compares with 155,000 last ...
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Housing market gets tougher says Rightmove
The housing market is getting tougher with 15 homes on sale to every buyer, according to the latest research by the website Rightmove. And although asking prices dipped this month they remain at about the same level as last year.Set this against the usually conservative predictions from the HBOS, which ...
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CommentAn old foe with new faces
Many of our present economic difficulties are really different forms of the same problem: our sclerotic planning system. Time to do something about it, says Michael Gove
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Setting off LADs: Avoncroft Construction Ltd vs Sharba Homes (CN) Ltd
This was an application to enforce an adjudicator’s decision awarding Avoncroft Construction Ltd (“Avoncroft”) £56,380. Avoncroft applied for summary judgment. Sharba Homes (CN) Ltd (“Sharba”) resisted this application on the basis that it was entitled to set off LADs. Alternatively, Sharba sought a stay of execution, or ...
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CommentDo you remember the last time?
From the depths of the last recession came Egan, Latham and the seeds of a truly integrated industry. This time around, we must not let that message fall by the wayside, says Colin Harding
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Plan of battle
Next Monday, parliament is to debate the planning bill. This looks like it will turn into a savage battle over human rights and economic necessity. Here’s why
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CommentOpen mike: Building control – Who’s watching the watchmen?
The government’s consultation on the future of building control has ignored the ridiculous anomalies that exist between private and public sector inspectors, says David Strong
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CommentPulling the trigger
The liability triggers for compensation for asbestos victims may depend on exact policy wording, but a current case may clarify whether the insurers are playing fair