All Comment articles 鈥� Page 497
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Comment
Get in early: the new JCT agreement
The new JCT preconstruction services agreements allow clients to employ contractors and specialists in a consultancy role before the final contract is awarded
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Anybody fancy 拢1.5bn?
If the industry believes that sustainable building is going into hibernation, it is time for a wake-up call.
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Prepare for a bleak winter on house prices
On the face of it the steady easing over the past three months in the monthly rate of decline in house prices measured by Nationwide is encouraging to those who want to see the market stabilise.For the policy makers there is growing fear that more and more people will find ...
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Bonus watch: Bellway bosses bag 拢632,500
There's still no sign housebuilding bosses are attracted by the warm glow and good PR they'd get by waiving their bonuses in these difficult times.Latest in line is Bellway. Admittedly the company is not in the same state of crisis as some of its peers but a 拢275,000 bonus for ...
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Taylor Wimpey debt talks: mind your language
Some of the descriptions of the fraught Taylor Wimpey rescue talks have been pretty euphemistic considering the company's survival is at stake.The housebuilder kicked things off a fortnight ago when it described the pace of talks with its lenders as "a tad disappointing". Which was very restrained.It continued a few ...
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How to save 150,000 construction jobs, earn the Treasury 拢16 billion and create 200,000 new homes
Imagine that Chancellor Alistair Darling had decided to boost public spending by investing 拢20 billion of taxpayers' money over the next two years in buying land and building homes earmarked for eventual open market sale.What would be the net result?Well we would have 200,000 more homes to help meet the ...
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The Chancellor's measures are not exceptional enough
I can but agree with the Chancellor that these are exceptional times and they require exceptional measures.My complaint, as I have said before, is that it took rather too long for the bulk of the political establishment to accept the severity of the economic turmoil we faced.And sadly I do ...
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Stamp duty down 拢500 million a month
The latest figures for tax receipts suggest that the Government is down about 拢500 million a month in stamp duty revenue.Taking the three months to October the revenue trawled in 拢2,162 million in stamp duty. This compares with 拢3,926 million over the same period a year earlier.The bulk of the ...
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Housing figures underline the haemorrhaging of construction workload
The latest starts figures appear to support the view that house building will drop by about a half next year as current projects completed and few if any new sites are opened.That would mean a loss of about 拢10 billion in construction workload.Put another way that is about half the ...
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Is the frozen housing market beginning to thaw?
Looking at the most recently released housing market data for October it is tempting to interpret it as showing signs of a thaw in a market that has almost frozen solid.On the month transactions rose according to the revenue figures, lending was up according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders ...
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CommentA sea of troubles
Looking into the white wall of fog ahead, it鈥檚 impossible to discern a safe haven, or the rocks in between. But, says Richard Steer, that doesn鈥檛 mean we should lose sight of what we鈥檙e about
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Old houses for new
Eco-towns? A valid showcase for future sustainable development, but even with the increased rates of new build sought by the government, estimates suggest that 90% of the buildings that will be standing in 2050 have already been built.
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CommentHow does your garden grow?
The refurbishment of the Axis Design, Ecoterrace (7 November, page 54 and again, below left) is to be admired 鈥� but what have they done to the garden?
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Negative energy
It is surprising that some people still believe electricity to be 100% efficient (and clean).
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CommentMy digital life: David Eastgate
Not your average chief executive, this ex-punk band member spends his online time surrounded by drums and drumming paraphernalia. Unless he鈥檚 on holiday, when you鈥檒l find him talking to 星空传媒
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CommentComedy of errors
This week, causes for confusion include a mysterious marketing campaign, a dubious safety claim, a phantom contract and a rather naughty search term 鈥� plus, the RIBA鈥檚 clever job creation scheme
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Comment星空传媒 buys potatoes鈥or Kanvas Interiors
If Louise Frostick were ever to meet Jarvis Cocker, it鈥檚 fair to assume they wouldn鈥檛 get on, at least not on the subject of interior decor.
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Blueprint for leadership
While I admire the quality of the work architects produce, I cannot help but disagree with Keith Mason鈥檚 Open Mike (24 October). There is only room for one leader, but that isn鈥檛 necessarily the architect.
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CommentAll over bar the shooting: Frameworks
What better way to work, you say, than a lovely, co-operative framework deal? Fine. Just don鈥檛 expect it to be bloodless, painless, dispute-less or litigation-free