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Boom time for construction? The view from Eeyore’s house

Boom time for construction? The view from Eeyore’s house

I feel for pessimists in construction at the moment. It’s really tough times for doom mongers. Every survey is running high, some touting record-breaking numbers. Meanwhile, forecasters are suggesting we are on the threshold of a phase of growth well above the long-term average. My God. It’s boom time. How can you talk that down? Well okay let me have a go. Not because I’m a pessimist (despite the rumours). Things are looking better. And I take a simple view…

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RICS housing survey suggests a house price slide, unless you’re in London

RICS housing survey suggests a house price slide, unless you’re in London

The latest RICS housing market survey took on a decidedly three-speed look, very much in line with what one might expected would result from the current economic realignment being implemented by the Government. Broadly the picture it paints is one that shows prices up in London, down in most Southern regions and down a lot in the North. Naturally it is not that clear cut. Scotland continues to be in the less bad group and the North West seems to…

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RICS shows construction emerging from recession, but is it really?

RICS shows construction emerging from recession, but is it really?

In the current climate it is encouraging to see construction indicators finally point to growth. And so it is good to welcome the return of the RICS construction workload index into positive territory after two years of slump. Sadly, as is the case with many construction indicators, when they are showing positive results it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are enjoying growth or that growth is coming to construction. So it is I suspect with the latest construction survey from…

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We’ll be getting off relatively lightly if the construction workforce drops by 400,000

We’ll be getting off relatively lightly if the construction workforce drops by 400,000

The latest forecast from the Construction Skills Network (CSN) suggests that the current recession in construction will have led to a drop of about 400,000 in the number employed by the industry once job shedding ends in early 2011. This would mean a drop of about 15% in the workforce. That appears at first sight pretty savage. But set against the previous recession this would be getting off relatively lightly, with a shorter and less severe period of job cutting.

Number snacks: 1

Number snacks: 1

The number of architects, planners and surveyors signing off the claimant count in the six months to October 2009 to head abroad was 985. This compares with 80 in same period two years earlier. Source: National Statistics (Nomis: www.nomisweb.co.uk).  Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI).

New Year stamp duty switchback will have little impact, says RICS

New Year stamp duty switchback will have little impact, says RICS

For those interested in what will happen when the stamp duty holiday comes to an end on December 31, the surveyors’ body RICS has done a little bit of research among its members. Basically, the results seem to suggest that by and large the effect on property transactions will be muted and will not cause a swell in the number of people looking to buy or sell their homes in the run up to 2010. And when the tax threshold…

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Has the housing mini-boom run out of puff?

Has the housing mini-boom run out of puff?

All the gauges appear to be reading “set fair” in the housing market, so why the long faces among those in the know? The latest RICS housing market survey on the face of it provides every reason to suspect that better times lie ahead. This follows a raft of housing indexes showing house prices rising steadily for several months. The RICS survey has for three months now seen more surveyors reporting rising prices than reporting prices falling and the majority…

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House prices on the increase, but so too are the questions marks over the housing market

House prices on the increase, but so too are the questions marks over the housing market

The big news is that for the first time in two years more surveyors in Britain said prices rose than said they fell, according to the latest RICS housing market survey. The big question is whether this is the start of a continuous and sustained recovery in the housing market or just, as the ITEM Club suggested yesterday, a false dawn. The big problem is that while the survey points to a general rise in prices, it also highlights that…

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There may be trouble ahead

There may be trouble ahead

How worried should we be about the the findings by the surveyors body RICS in its latest construction market survey showing that the outlook for the industry is at its worst for a decade? The short answer is seriously concerned. But that is only a partial answer. It certainly does not address the fact that what seems like only yesterday there were plenty of experts predicting all manner of problems, with the industry by now in near meltdown swamped with…

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