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Reading the runes of the RICS construction survey and finding optimism elsewhere

Reading the runes of the RICS construction survey and finding optimism elsewhere

Today I read headlines suggesting the recovery in construction is on its way. Ultimately it is, but when? The cause of the excitement was the RICS construction market survey, which comes hard on the heels of lots of seemingly more favourable data. The RICS survey is a useful tool and potentially a good early indicator of the fortunes of the wider construction industry. But the data need to be interpreted with caution. So while many of the indicators in the…

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Is it time for housing policy to pay more heed to the costs and the benefits of location?

Is it time for housing policy to pay more heed to the costs and the benefits of location?

Location, location, location. They may be the oldest three rules in the property world. But do we need to take those rules more seriously in housing policy? When I owned a flat in Islington, London, in the 1990s I was surprised just how little the insurance cover was for the building relative to the potential sale price. It covered little more than the value of any one of the four flats into which the building was divided. Even back then…

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Build more student accommodation, free up homes for families – good idea

Build more student accommodation, free up homes for families – good idea

There seems to be too few easy options for relieving the housing crisis at the moment and certainly too few win-win options. It’s unlikely we’ll find a single solution to the mess we find ourselves in and the answers may not necessarily be solely found in building more houses, but using those we have better. So one thought that has fascinated me for ages is whether building more bespoke student accommodation to release rented private homes could be one. Well…

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The revolution will not be strategised

The revolution will not be strategised

Last week two reports came out with similar names but very different purposes. But they deserve comment and consideration together. On the Monday Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics launched its report Global Construction 2025, a global forecast for the construction industry to 2025. The following day the Government unveiled the Construction 2025: industrial strategy for construction – government and industry in partnership. Most of the similarities and differences will be pretty obvious on reading, so let’s take them as…

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Signs of recovery and the cost of missed opportunities in the housing market

Signs of recovery and the cost of missed opportunities in the housing market

The latest housing market data all point to a recovery. Mortgage approvals measured over three months are at a three-year high. Prices are rising. Sales are more buoyant. Starts appear to be on the way up. Indeed more positive wider economic news of late no doubt has helped underpin a sense of confidence, while the periodic scares from the Euro area seem to create less fear each time they come into focus and fade again. The improved housing statistics should…

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Signs of stability in construction activity, but recovery looks a way off yet

Signs of stability in construction activity, but recovery looks a way off yet

The latest monthly construction output figures from the Office for National Statistics provided little extra insight into either the travails of or the prospects for the industry, other than to hint that the rate of decline may be easing. Looking at the graph we can see a teasing turn in the downward trend in the 12-month total of construction output of late. And certainly there appear to be no shocks in the data when examining the finer details at sector level….

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It’s worrying that we are losing construction jobs. But equally disturbing is the loss of capacity

It’s worrying that we are losing construction jobs. But equally disturbing is the loss of capacity

The latest ONS labour market figures showing workforce jobs in construction pretty much mirror expectations with a drop of 53,000 from the 2012 Q1 to 2013 Q1. This is pretty much in line with the employment figures published last month which showed a fall of 41,000 over the same period. Interestingly the brunt of the more recent losses appears to have been taken by the self-employed, which had been significantly less impacted through most of the recessionary period since 2008….

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Latest new orders figures provide little to be cheery about

Latest new orders figures provide little to be cheery about

The latest construction new orders figures from the Office for National Statistics provide little comfort for an industry seemingly trapped in a long running slump. Look through the volatility and we see a new stability, so things don’t appear to be getting much worse. But the level of new orders won is running at about two thirds of peak. What makes this disturbing is that it the volume of orders being won has been about the same level for the…

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Why jobs in construction are increasingly valuable for the UK and should be nurtured

Why jobs in construction are increasingly valuable for the UK and should be nurtured

A few weeks ago I received a request from Dan Earley a quantity surveying student asking for a comment on training and development within the construction industry. I was delighted to help, in part because it prompted me to write some words that had been sitting in my head for some while. I had meant to post the comment on this blog, but it slipped from my memory and down the pile in the guilt tray. Yesterday’s fantastic ONS release…

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The cost to construction of false optimism

The cost to construction of false optimism

For the past five years this blog has been perceived as a purveyor of doom and gloom and sometimes criticised for being so. I part jokingly retort that I may be gloomy, but I tend to be out-gloomed by reality. Here’s my take in 2008. There is plenty of scope I see now to have been gloomier than I was and not have been unreasonable as things have panned out. But this post does not concern who was right or…

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