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Tag: house building

Why local authorities would be mad to grant planning permissions right now

Why local authorities would be mad to grant planning permissions right now

So a spate of local planning authorities decided to halt housing schemes following the move by the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to abolish regional spatial strategies.  No shock there then.  I’d argue, as I do later, that it would be totally rational for a planning authority to halt or delay planning even if there was widespread desire for the new development among a local council and all its constituents. What puzzles me is why this new government would wish to alienate…

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Private housing completions in England have dropped by more than half since the credit crunch

Private housing completions in England have dropped by more than half since the credit crunch

We all know it’s been bad in house building, but sometimes you have to look at the figures again to remind yourself just how bad things have been. The release of the latest housing figures provides that reality check, as the graph below so clearly illustrates. It’s been carnage and it is a long way back even to meet pre-credit crunch levels of building. In the first quarter of 2007 the industry was beginning to motor as is clear from…

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The big question for Mr Shapps

The big question for Mr Shapps

I would like to be among those welcoming Grant Shapps to his new role as housing minister and wishing him well. I must admit I have not been particularly kind to his ideas to date. It’s my job to be critical I guess. But for the record I do have a degree of admiration for his fervent faith in localism, for which I have much sympathy, albeit with a shed load of doubts. Somehow it chimes with the anarcho-syndicalist spirit…

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Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for

Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for

The latest round of forecasting by construction experts paints a picture little changed from three months ago with little hope of significant growth, much uncertainty and the risks to growth heavily weighted on the down side. The general pattern they expect can be seen from the graph (right). It shows that after the biggest recorded annual fall since comparable records began in 1955 the forecasters expect a continued slide this year. There is some variation in views on this, with…

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Joy deferred as CIPS shows construction activity grows for first time in two years

Joy deferred as CIPS shows construction activity grows for first time in two years

So the construction activity indicator produced by the buyers’ body CIPS finally points to growth after two years of measuring falling workloads. But this seemingly uplifting moment appears to have brought little joy. The March figure popped its head above the 50 no-change mark on the back of rising activity in the housing and commercial sectors. But the survey also found more and deeper job cuts within the industry and there was a drop in the confidence within firms over…

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Is the housing market on the turn again?

Is the housing market on the turn again?

Today’s release by the surveyors’ body RICS of its latest housing market survey provides a little bit of support to both sides of the will-they-won’t-they debate on house price rises. Looked at nationally, the broad measures of estate agents experiences and expectations of house prices remain positive. A majority of 17% saw prices rise in February and a majority of 7% expect prices to continue rising. This will pep up the spirits of those keen to see evidence that prices…

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Housing shortage, what housing shortage?

Housing shortage, what housing shortage?

Few people disagree with the notion that there is a housing shortage in England. It is trotted out both as an argument for more social homes and as an underlying case for ever increasing house prices. I too subscribe to the view that we need to increase and enhance the English, and indeed UK, housing stock. But here is something that caught my eye when I was checking out some figures recently. Consider this: according to the Survey of English…

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118 000 a number to remember – 240 000 a number best forgotten

118 000 a number to remember – 240 000 a number best forgotten

118,000: The number of new homes that were completed in England in 2009, according to the latest official data. 240,000: The number of new homes to be created annually in England from 2016, according to the targets set when Yvette Cooper, Minister for Housing and Planning at the time, announced the launch of the Government’s Housing Green Paper – “Homes for the future: more affordable, more sustainable” on 23 July 2007. It all looks pretty grim, with house building numbers…

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Annual orders figures reveal extent of construction freefall – a £17 billion drop in two years

Annual orders figures reveal extent of construction freefall – a £17 billion drop in two years

The recession has ripped away from construction roughly £17 billion in annual new orders, despite £ billions more public sector sponsored work. That’s the clear message to me from the annual tot up of the new orders won by contractors released today. Forget the niceties of which sector is doing how well and you are faced with the grim picture of an industry in near freefall. In 2007 new orders in cash terms came to £50.6 billion. The figure for…

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Brighter outlook from forecasters, but severe risks remain

Brighter outlook from forecasters, but severe risks remain

The forecasts from Hewes & Associates and Leading Edge sit interestingly against the other winter forecasts for construction output released over the past couple of weeks. They seem to back up the mood among other forecasters that construction workload might not fall as much was feared in the middle of last year. But what is most notable about the various forecasts when we put them together (see graph) is the spread of central projections for the path of construction output….

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