All articles by Brian Green – Page 27
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Redundancies ravage the construction workforce - 141,000 jobs gone in the past 12 months
The numbers made redundant in construction over the past 12 months have mounted to 141,000, according to the latest set of figures released by the official statisticians at ONS.Almost 100,000 of those redundancies were made in the six months from October last year to March this year.These figures will grossly ...
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Look east to find some shelter from the storm
My good friend Martin Hewes has just past me some details of the latest Hewes & Associates forecast for new work construction output. It will not make for comfortable reading if you happen to be trading heavily in Yorkshire & Humberside.That region is set to be the hardest hit by ...
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Surveyors feel a stronger pulse in the housing market
The latest survey of the housing market by the surveyors' body RICS has provided yet more evidence that the rate of decay in the housing market may be easing, with the average surveyor busier than at time since last November.The uplift in buyer inquiries seems to be driving the strengthening ...
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Watch out for snake oil salesmen purveying good news
There are few things more odious than selling false hope to desperate folk.But I am seeing ever more evidence of this sad occupation.I would have posted a blog on the latest new orders figures yesterday, but I was out of the office either in meetings, on the train or socialising ...
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We are back to April 2004 on house prices, says Halifax
The Halifax house price index showed a further 1.7% fall in April dragging the cost of an average home down to £154,716 on the seasonally adjusted measure.The last time prices were that low was in April 2004 and Halifax puts average prices at about 23% lower than at the peak ...
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Recessionary pain spreads, says latest construction trade survey
The latest state of construction trade survey figures compiled and analysed by the Construction Products Association is interesting as it provides a clear picture of an industry drifting deeper into recession.We seem to be, just from a cursory look at the graphs, very much at the beginning. And the pain, ...
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Collapse in construction workload eases, say buyers
The latest indicator of construction activity from the buyers' body CIPS suggests that the pace of decline in construction may have eased a bit in April.The key Purchasing Managers Index for construction rose in the month from 30.9 in March to 38.1. This still means things are getting worse fast, ...
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A housing market recovery next year, says CEBR
There is a growing chorus of voices saying that the worst is over in the housing market and that the upturn is not that far away.And to add a bit more volume to the choir is the latest Consumer and Housing prospects report from the business and economic consultancy CEBR, ...
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What revelations are there in the insolvency figures?
IfPestilence is the diseased financial systemWar is contractual and trade disputesFamine is the lack of ordersThenDeath must be measured by the insolvency figures.And they do look a bit on the pale side.The base figures show a 56% increase in the number of liquidations across all sectors in the first quarter ...
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Mortgage lending a bit better but still pretty much on the floor
The Bank of England's release on mortgage lending does show a futher slight rise for March.The figures show mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 39,230 in March from 37,716 in February. And this puts the level of approvals reasonably well up from the bottom reached last November of 27,000.But ...
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Further clues on house price movements from Land Registry
The latest Land Registry figures for house prices show a further fall in March of 0.4%.These figures appear consistent with the general picture emerging from the various surveys of falling prices, but an easing in the rate of decline.
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Home prices slide but rate of decline has eased, says Nationwide
The latest Nationwide data on house prices is yet another pointer to suggst the slide in house prices is far from over.The April figure saw the average price fall by 0.4% in April after the upward blip of 0.9% a month earlier.The optimists may suggest this is a bottoming out ...
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Little to stop the slide in house prices, says Hometrack
Two weeks ago there was growing optimism within the housing market. One budget later and there is every sign that we may re-enter a period of deepening pessimism with commentary to suit.I'd be surprised if the latest British Bankers' Association figures showing mortgage lending slowing isn't seized on and thrown ...
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Construction collapse was faster than first thought, say ONS statisticians
Construction output fell a further 2.4% in the first quarter of this year, according to estimates plugged into the official data used to calculate the UK gross domestic product.The figures for total output of the UK economy in the first quarter show a disturbing fall of 1.9%, with construction a ...
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NSCC survey of specialists highlights strategic industry problems
I was passed a draft copy of the latest state of trade survey undertaken by the specialist contractors' body NSCC. It covers the first quarter of this year and tells pretty much the story you'd expect - orders and inquiries down and firms working at lower and lower capacity.It is, ...
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Home sales perk up in March
Another little ray of good news for estate agents and house builders came from the latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs for property transactions.They do provide a hint of a glimmer of hope that the housing market may be experiencing some revival, with the highest level of monthly sales ...
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Chancellor provides optimism in the gloom...and that's what's worrying
The direct measures aimed at construction-related activities and businesses in the 2009 Budget will be welcomed in some quarters, mainly among the house builders.Though I am not so sure I would go with the instant view from the surveyors' body RICS that: "Measures announced by the Chancellor will help move ...
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Construction job vacancies evaporate as recession bites
The latest batch of employment figures provides little comfort to the thousands of construction workers who are now looking for jobs, as vacancies in the industry have plunged deeper.The figures show that in the three months to March this year there were 12,000 recorded vacancies for jobs in construction. This ...
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Local builders set to shed more jobs as the recession deepens
The latest survey of local builders by the FMB suggests that more jobs will shed over coming months with a majority of a third of firms expecting to cut jobs over the coming six months.It has to be said that the survey for the first quarter of this year is ...
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Inflation down but far from out, despite cheaper cucumbers
For the first time in a year the annual rate of inflation measured on the CPI index dropped below 3%, dropping from 3.2% to 2.9%.The main contributor to the fall in inflation was lower energy costs, which contributed to a drop in the rate of inflation for housing and household ...