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Tag: construction output

It’s a long wait yet for commercial construction upswing

It’s a long wait yet for commercial construction upswing

Each time a commercial property developer hints at making a move in the market I am confronted with the same question by those with an interest in construction work: Is this the start of the upswing? This question is usually followed by the suggestion that developers must be keen to build into the recession to place themselves ready for the recovery. Those desperate to see an upturn around the corner will be pointing excitedly to the Land Securities announcement this…

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Forecasts point to a tough and risky road ahead for construction

Forecasts point to a tough and risky road ahead for construction

The latest Experian forecast is out today and it paints a broadly similar, albeit slightly more optimistic, picture to that of the recently released forecast from the Construction Products Association. The main point of departure is on the views towards housing. Here the Experian forecasters are more bullish, if you can say that about a market that even by 2012 is expected to be almost 30% smaller than it was before the credit crunch. Experian’s expectation of a faster improvement…

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Why the forecast of a shallower recession is bad news for contractors

Why the forecast of a shallower recession is bad news for contractors

The latest forecast from the Construction Products Association suggests that the drop in future workload will not be as large as the forecasters had previously thought. The graph opposite compares the past three Construction Products Association forecasts. It clearly shows that with each progressive quarterly forecast the expected hole in construction workload has shrunk. Fantastic news you might think. Well think again. If you’re a contractor this is probably bad news not good news. And here’s why.

Workload drops as the snow falls

Workload drops as the snow falls

When we suffered a cold snap back in February last year I looked at the impact of the great freeze of 1962/63 on construction output. In a word it was huge. So, as I walked into work this morning chipper as a child as I trudge though inches of snow and took in the Christmas card scene, I wondered what was the effect of the cold snap in February on the figures and what might we expect the impact of…

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Are we witnessing an upswing in construction output? In a word: No

Are we witnessing an upswing in construction output? In a word: No

So its official – the construction recession isn’t as bad as we thought. And the even better news is that the sharp fall in output at the start of this year wasn’t anywhere near as sharp as last quarter’s figures had suggested. That at least is how the national statisticians might have us see it. The official figures for construction workload show a jump of 2% between the second and third quarters of this year. Workloads were boosted, the figures…

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Falling construction helps hold UK in recession

Falling construction helps hold UK in recession

An estimated fall of 1.1% in construction output in the third quarter of this year has helped to hold the UK economic growth in recessionary territory. Much to the surprise of many analysts the UK economy appears to have remained in recession, with GDP output falling 0.4% in the three months of July, August and September. These are however only preliminary estimates and will be revised. And in recent quarters revisions to the estimated construction output have caused sharp revisions….

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