Opinion 鈥� Page 404
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Comment
Bit of banter between Pidgley and Ronson
At a recent property event, heavyweights Tony Pidgley and Gerald Ronson shared a stage.It didn't take long before the thorny subject of planning came up. Berkeley Homes boss Pidgley bemoaned a process he said overlooked the fact real human beings were involved.He continued: "I was in Disneyland with my three-year ...
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Comment
The UK construction industry is in recession
If the definition you use is two quarters of negative growth, then on the first count by the national statisticians the construction industry is in a recession.The latest GDP figures show that growth in the whole economy dipped by 0.5% in the third quarter. This was the first fall for ...
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CommentMy digital life: Lee Penson
This architect likes a life of adventure, be it driving a classic Jaguar, yachting or racing cars on PS3. But even if he鈥檚 in the middle of a far-off ocean, he鈥檒l be busy emailing the folks back home
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CommentThe men with two brains
Open mike:聽What relationship should architects have with project managers? Well they鈥檙e a bit like two halves of the same cortex 鈥� but there鈥檚 only room for one leader, says Keith Mason
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CommentQSs in the crossfire
The collapse of the commercial sector and doubts over public spending have left cost consultants facing a bitter battle for work, with fees plummeting and staff casualties expected to be high. Olivia Boyd reports on how QSs are fighting the downturn
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CommentThings that go bump in the night
If you鈥檙e a fancy finance boy thinking of taking a jump 鈥� well, go right ahead. For the rest of us, says Greg Verhoef, the game is survival and that means preparing the ground for a soft landing
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Comment
Positive action
All of us here at Inbuilt are enthusiastic about the UK Green 星空传媒 Council鈥檚 report on Low Carbon Existing Homes which was published this week.
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CommentRaising the bar
It is no surprise to see that a scheme masterminded by Countryside Properties under the chairmanship of Alan Cherry has won the Stirling prize.
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Comment
Painting a bleak picture
The HSE recently found that a high number of professional home refurbishment projects in London were unsafe. But this hides a big problem: exposure to lead dust and fumes arising from something as simple as redecorating your own living room (if you live in a pre-1960s home).
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Comment
All they survey
I worked for many years in the engineering insurance industry as an engineer surveyor carrying out statutory inspections of lifting equipment. During the course of my job I visited many building sites each week to inspect cranes and other mobile lifting equipment. Although I am now retired, I know that ...
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CommentHow to score a bull鈥檚-eye
The government is way off target on its schools building programme. So what, precisely, would the Tories do if they were in charge? Michael Gove takes aim
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Comment星空传媒 buys a pint 鈥� for Verry Construction
The Stirling prize is clearly not what it used to be for Verry Construction. Two days after it was announced that Feilden Clegg Bradley had won UK architecture鈥檚 top prize for a housing scheme in Cambridge, the team at Verry is reminiscing fondly about last year鈥檚 award.
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CommentWhat is to be done?
Do you remember the joke doing the rounds in the last recession? What do you say to an architect? 鈥淏ig Mac and fries, please.鈥�
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CommentOut with the old
As the autumn trees are changing, we turn over a new leaf, with a different housing minister, some original vocabulary, a fresh-look logo and the option to go for tapas
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Comment
US are repossessing more homes per head than the UK is building
Now here is a thought. Over the past months, the rate of foreclosures (repossession) per head of population in the US has been running ahead of the rate of new homes built per head of population in the UK.I haven't got the precise figures on UK completions, because they haven't ...
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Comment
OFT must act to stop suicidal bidding in the face of recession
If Mervyn King says we are about to head into recession, frankly it's pretty much a done deal.No matter how much the Government says it wants to protect construction, in reality there is only so much it can do. The industry is heading for recession, if it is not already ...
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Comment
New depths reached in housing market sales
The latest statistics from HM Revenue & Customs show that new record lows have been plumbed by sales in the UK housing market.On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales in September dropped to just 38% of the peak level reached in December 2006.Taking a broad brush view, it would seem that ...
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Comment
Is this the worst time to be "more relaxed"?
I am sure I will not be the only one who draws this parallel. But I suspect it is a classic illustration of why credibility matters in both politics and economics.George Bush on the US economy, October 2008: "I have heard that people's attitudes are beginning to change from a ...
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Comment
Rightmove - wrong meaning
I'm not one for publicly criticising other journalists and their take on things. I feel vulnerable enough myself.But sometimes it is worth clearing up a bit of confusion.I read the Rightmove figures and thought no surprise there then, not worth a comment this time around.I then read various headlines and ...