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Tag: house building

Rise in new orders provides some solace, but they remain at very low levels

Rise in new orders provides some solace, but they remain at very low levels

The latest construction new orders figures will give some solace to some. The need to see growth, any growth, in any construction indicator is desperate. The top graph shows clearly how new orders for construction have fallen over the past few years and how frighteningly low the level remains. I remain a shade concerned over the accuracy of this data series just because it does look so terrible and the implications the figures have for construction output – that which…

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How can I put this? The Government remains clueless on how to boost house building

How can I put this? The Government remains clueless on how to boost house building

The latest house building data show we have now endured the three worst years in England for new home completions since 1946. More homes were built in the single year of 1967 than were built in 2010, 2011 and 2012 put together. The figures again underline the limpness of Government strategy in dealing with the housing crisis. Given the projected path we set ourselves as a nation back in 2007, we should be building at twice the current rate. That…

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Positive signs in the RICS housing survey – but nothing to get too excited about

Positive signs in the RICS housing survey – but nothing to get too excited about

Recent surveys of the housing market by the surveyors’ body RICS have become increasingly positive in tone and are finding increasing signs of life. There are some promising signs in the findings for house builders and the construction industry. Inevitably the popular focus falls on price changes, with rises seen as a sign of an improving market. Here the RICS found stability taking the nation as a whole and its members were modestly bullish about the prospect of prices rising…

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2012 was the fourth worst on record for construction growth as output falls 8.4%

2012 was the fourth worst on record for construction growth as output falls 8.4%

So there we have it, the official Office for National Statistic figures show that Britain’s construction output fell by 8.4% last year. But how can construction output have collapsed so far so fast and there not be howls of pain and frantic action by the Government to bolster one of the nation’s more vital industries? It’s a puzzle made all the more baffling by the constant appearances on the telly of David Cameron and Nick Clegg in green boots, hi-viz…

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The construction recession will be deeper – that’s the forecasters latest view

The construction recession will be deeper – that’s the forecasters latest view

The latest industry forecasts for construction activity are, as expected, much gloomier than they were as recently ago as last autumn. Both Experian and the Construction Products Association have trimmed their expectations for growth in construction output for this year and next. Experian is estimating a drop of 8.5% for last year on current data followed by a 3.5% drop this year, while CPA expects a 8.8% for 2012 with a of 2.2% for 2013. The graph (right) shows how these compare…

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2013 kicks off with some unwelcome bad news for construction

2013 kicks off with some unwelcome bad news for construction

The sharpest drop in construction output since June 2012 is not the snippet of construction data you would want to read with a fresh new year ahead of you and optimism rising like sap in the spring. Sadly that was the first key point from the latest monthly Markit/CIPS construction survey. It is perhaps ironic that it should be the Markit/CIPS survey providing the first bad news of the year, given that historicaly it tends to be more optimistic than most…

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Latest new orders figures cast a long dark shadow over construction

Latest new orders figures cast a long dark shadow over construction

The construction new orders figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Friday suggest a truly scary year or more for the UK industry. We can find some solace in the general rule that it is unwise to take as your guide just one measure of activity in construction, given the trickiness of measuring the industry’s activity. There are much less worrisome measures of construction activity to be found. But let’s consider what conclusions we might draw if we…

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UK construction bosses need to make Government face the facts: The industry is in freefall

UK construction bosses need to make Government face the facts: The industry is in freefall

Construction output fell 2.6% in the third quarter of this year. This fall was slightly more than had been expected when the nation’s first estimate of gross domestic product was released. For informed industry watchers this was no surprise. The fact that revisions by the Office for National Statistics to earlier data pushed the recorded level of output down still further was also not a surprise.

More families share homes as the squeeze on housing tightens

More families share homes as the squeeze on housing tightens

The number of homes being shared by two or more families has leapt almost 20% over the past two years, according to families and households data released last week. In 2010 the Office for National Statistics put the number of multi-family households at 237,000. In 2012 it stands at 281,000.