All Comment articles 鈥� Page 471
-
Comment
Inflation fell more than expected in April
The rate of inflation measured on the consumer prices index (CPI) fell sharply in April from 2.9% to 2.4%.This should be seen as good news for those operating in the housing market as a persistence of over target inflation may have hastened the time when interest rates return to more ...
-
Comment
Is everyone being too positive?
Apparently, slowing negative is now the new positive. Contraction is pass茅. The only problem is, that the evidence doesn't appear to suggest that.Just two examples, of many recently, spring to mind.The latest Key Purchasing Managers Index for construction from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) rose from 30.9 ...
-
Comment
Report shows 10-fold increase in 2008 in unsold new homes in London
The more you scratch the available data on residential development the more astounding seems the transformation in market conditions over 2008.I was invited to be the editor of The Red Book for this year's edition. For those not familiar with the book it is produced annually and provides analysis and ...
-
Comment
And this year's new optimism is...
Everything becomes this year's new black at some point.Nothing is ever simply itself anymore. That's fine in a postmodern culture of moral relativism that is accepting of a laid back usage of language and grammar. I'm fairly relaxed about that.But there comes a point when it all gets a bit ...
-
Comment
The usual victims
The Verry debacle (8 May, page 24) is just the same old, same old 鈥� look at Eugena, Wiltshire and the others. Who gets hurt? Yes, you guessed it, the 鈥渟pecialist trade contractor鈥� and the small subbie
-
Comment
Overcoming overload
I read with interest Cedric Sloan鈥檚 article in 星空传媒 on 1 May (page 33). He draws attention to the information that is provided with most invitations to submit a tender. One of the points he makes is that far too much information is provided
-
Comment
Ten into six doesn鈥檛 go
It was a shame to see that CNP has become the first big-name QS/project management casualty. At the end of the day consultants are all about people and my sympathy goes out to all who have and will lose their jobs, shareholdings, and so on. Consultants have been hanging in ...
-
-
CommentTime and punishment: Interest on unfair debt
If you don鈥檛 pay a legitimate debt, you are liable for interest on top. That鈥檚 only fair. But what if the creditor was at fault in some way, or the invoice was wrong?
-
Comment
Fancy a change? How to be an expert witness
If you鈥檝e just been made redundant, it might be time to consider a career as an expert witness. Here are a few tips to get you started 鈥�
-
CommentWonders & blunders
Tom Foulkes salutes Hadrian鈥檚 2,000-year-old Pantheon in Rome, but quietly hopes the brutalist Southbank Centre has a somewhat shorter lifespan
-
Comment
More egg baskets required
I worked for Taylor Woodrow International from 1975 to 1980 in various parts of the world and its geographic and sectoral diversification was one of its greatest strengths
-
CommentWhat price victory? Winning back legal costs
You鈥檝e won a legal battle so it鈥檚 only reasonable you get your costs reimbursed, isn鈥檛 it? Ah, if only it were that simple
-
CommentArchitects, take a bow
Prince Charles didn鈥檛 say he鈥檇 employ Lord Foster to make over Highgrove 鈥� that would really have been a great way to make up with the modernists
-
Comment
Off-site really is the answer
So the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is launching a drive to boost the private rental sector. As residential property prices fall, rental yields are starting to look more attractive to investors and pension funds, so the opportunity is there for the taking
-
CommentWe can't afford cheap and nasty
The recession is turning us, and our politicians, into mean, short-sighted people. And this is exactly the right way to make sure it lasts a long, long time
-
CommentVoices from the abyss
As the recession drags on, we hear the sound of lamentation from losing Crossrail bidders, wailing from architects鈥� competition lists and saucy ad libs from property professionals
-
Comment
Traders see a brighter future for house prices - but still expect a further 17% drop
Follow the money they say. Well the money punted in the futures market suggests that average house prices still have at least 17% to fall.That puts the peak-to-trough drop at more than a third.But the good news for those selling homes is that the mood among the traders has perked ...
-
Comment
If it's growth you want, start looking again at house building
I received a bit of a teasing prod this morning from my good friend the editor of CJ, Aaron Morby, when he rang me up to quiz me on house building targets."Don't you think we are seeing a recovery in house building?" Which he followed with: "I hope you don't ...