Opinion 鈥� Page 382
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Comment
Official figures put house prices 14.2% below peak
The latest official figures produced by Communities and Local Government to gauge house prices suggest the decline in prices accelerated in February to an annual rate of -12.3%, which puts them 14.2% down from peak.No particular surprise there. But there is a scrap of hope in the figures for those ...
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Is the housing market out of the woods?
More encouraging news for those involved in selling houses came from the surveyors' body RICS today with the release of its latest housing market survey.The survey adds further weight to the argument that the catastrophic collapse in house prices has been arrested, with the balance between surveyors reporting falls in ...
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Comment
Experian revises down its forecast for construction output
Industry forecasters at Experian followed their rivals and cut expectations of construction activity over the coming three years.The predicted decline in output in 2009 is now put at 7.8% followed by a slight drop of 1.7% in 2010 and a bounce back up of 1.6% in 2011.This puts the peak-to-trough ...
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House price futures on the rise
It has been a good spring so far for house builders in terms of sentiment if not in terms of actual sales. This is in sharp contrast to last year when market devastation created more ashen-faced residential developers than you could shake a stick at.There has been a bit of ...
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CommentAustralia's grand opera house
Sydney is finally going to restore J酶rn Utzon鈥檚 awesome opera house to his original design 鈥� but there is a big price to pay
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CommentNet Worth... buys a pint for 星空传媒
For once it wasn鈥檛 星空传媒 digging deep into the corporate pocket to stand a few rounds 鈥� it was the jolly folk at Net Worth, on the occasion of the debut of their construction and property networking club
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CommentHansom: Detailed accounts
All the latest from London鈥檚 least-publicised 拢425m tower, the RICS鈥� 拢45 page-turner, Steve Morgan鈥檚 拢10 football club, and my 拢5 flutter on the Grand National
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Comment
Impact: zero
Clive Soley鈥檚 assertion that Heathrow and London鈥檚 economy is under threat if a third runway is not built cannot go unchallenged (27 March, page 42)
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Comment
Lest we forget...
Do you know where the war memorials are in your area? Are they being well looked after or have you noticed that they are falling into disrepair? Have you tried to contact the relevant authority about maintenance?
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Comment
Sound education
Acoustics within schools remains widely overlooked, despite the introduction of BB93, the government standards for the acoustic design of schools. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency
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CommentWhat about us?
It鈥檚 all very well trying to kickstart our moribund economy by chucking money at the public sector, but what about the poor blighters who don鈥檛 work in it?
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CommentU, V - or W?
There was a definite mood of optimism at the 星空传媒 Awards last Thursday. Lots of people had a real reason to celebrate, of course, but the mood change was caused by more than champagne
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Comment
Taylor Wimpey: How long before it does the 'rights' thing?
When Taylor Wimpey announced that it had all but dotted the i's and crossed the t's on its 拢1.6bn refinancing deal yesterday, there was a palpable sense of "thank God for that" around the City.The 10-month marathon had been brought to an end and when one deal insider was asked ...
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Comment
We're in the worst recession on record, says Construction Products Association
The spring round of forecasting has brought more gloom with the Construction Products Association taking an even dimmer view of industry prospects than in the winter.On the basis of the current data available the materials producers' body predicts a drop of almost 拢15 billion in construction work at current prices ...
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Comment
Annual construction output forecast to fall 拢23.5 billion over next two years
The first of the spring forecasts for construction has winged its way into my inbox. It is the Hewes and Associates' forecast.Hewes expects on the basis of current data that levels of construction output will fall back to those last seen in 1996 before we see a recovery.This may seem ...
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Comment
Annual construction output forecast to fall
The first of the spring forecasts for construction has winged its way into my inbox. It is the Hewes & Associates' forecast.Hewes expects on the basis of current data that levels of construction output will fall back to those last seen in 1996 before we see a recovery.This may seem ...
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Comment
Halifax figures dampen hopes of spring bounce in house prices
The Nationwide figures published yesterday provided some cheer for those selling homes with the announcement of a 0.9% rise in its house price index for March.That hope has been rather squashed with the Halifax today releasing figures suggesting the price of an average home fell in the month by 1.9%.What ...
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Comment
Five reasons why the G20 summit is great news for UK construction
I meant to get in an early night, but George Soros was billed to appear on Newsnight and while I know it's shallow I am a sucker for celebrity.I legitimised my decision on the grounds that I wanted to see how broad the consensus was over the success of the ...