Opinion 鈥� Page 418
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Housing market worsens, but not as quickly - RICS
It is an odd thing that things can still be getting worse, but that sentiment can be regarded as improving. So it is with estate agents, according to the latest housing market survey produced by the surveyors body RICS.The story of the June survey is that while things are still ...
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Expert determination: Owen Pell v Bindi (London)
Owen Pell Limited (鈥淥wen Pell鈥�) entered into a contract with Bindi (London) Limited (鈥淏indi鈥�) for Owen Pell to build an extension and undertake M&E work at Bindi鈥檚 property at Holme Lacy. Owen Pell left site before work was complete. The parties later agreed to have their dispute determined ...
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CommentThe uses of adversity
The Great Depression brought destitution to millions. It also transformed politics and society and produced great architecture. Amanda Levete asks: could the present downturn do the same?
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CommentLegal panels: The best panel game in town
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Obtaining better value for money from your law firm by setting up a panel is one way to ease the effects of the downturn
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CommentDivided we fell
Open mike -聽Never agree to a bad plan in the hope that things will turn out for the best. Martin Bishop did, and now the RICS is more fragmented than it鈥檚 ever been
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Project bank accounts: Up close and personal
Ignore the critics: project bank accounts foster trust and collaboration and, in doing so, save everybody a great deal of hassle
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Futures market puts house prices in cash terms down by a third by 2011
Punters in the residential derivatives game are putting a very bleak gloss on the direction of house prices.The Tradition Future HPI, which measures future prices against the Halifax (HBOS) non-seasonally adjusted average, puts a value of 拢137,233 on an average house in June 2011. Given that prices peaked at 拢201,081 ...
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Three years of construction recession forecast - is that possible?
My good friend Martin Hewes provided me with a sneak preview of his latest three-year forecast for construction output. It's not a bedtime read for the faint hearted, that's for sure.The Hewes & Associates numbers show a recession in construction stretching out for the three years of the forecast period, ...
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A warm industry welcome
Reading your article on apprenticeships (20 June, page 20) brought back memories of my introduction to the industry as a would-be apprentice carpenter in 1972.
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CommentBorder skirmishes
In reply to Derek Emslie in Scotland (27 June, page 35) who took issue with Caroline Flint referring to 鈥淓ngland鈥� as a world leader in sustainable building...
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The mystified mediator
I feel very sorry for disputants like Alan Danieli (27 June, page 39) caught up in the expensive, acrimonious and drawn out process of construction dispute resolution, especially at the smaller end of the market where legal costs can be so high in relation to the sums at issue.
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Call on me
I鈥檓 pleased to report that that the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has brokered a deal with the RICS to settle complaints against FMB members.
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It doesn鈥檛 add up
A lot has been said and written recently about the OFT investigation into price fixing. I am amazed that despite the amount of press coverage on this I can find no comment on the profit margins of the contractors involved.
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Working 25/7
So 鈥� Mouzhan Majidi at Fosters brags (4 July, page 64) that their team worked 24 hours a day..
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CommentSinging the blues
What a diabolical week. The swingeing job cuts 鈥� 4,000 across publicly quoted companies alone 鈥� make painful reading and all the signs are that things are going to get an awful lot worse.
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Comment星空传媒 buys a pint 鈥� for Inbuilt Consulting
Chosen watering hole: The Paper Mill, Apsley, Hertfordshire聽Ambience: Pleasant faux-country pub by a canal聽Topics: How to salvage Paul鈥檚 architectural agricultural endeavours, and sunflower envy聽Drinks drunk: 5 pints of ale, 2 pints of lager, 3 white wines, 3 red wines, mineral water, glass of tonic
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CommentMy digital life: Robert Adam
Addicted to books, BlackBerries and baiting Kevin McCloud, architect Robert Adam courts controversy online as well as off, as Charlotte Matheson found out
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CommentOoh matron!
Despite the gloom, the industry has been Carrying On, thanks to some deliciously wobbly desserts and some naughty business in a public park
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House prices are falling twice as fast as in 1990 crash
I'll be honest I wasn't expecting the latest Halifax (HBOS) house price figures to be quite as dramatic as they were - showing a further 2% drop in June.Not that I am overly surprised, but on nothing more than a hunch I had expected the rate of fall in June ...