Brickonomics

House building looks set for growth in 2010

The latest Government house building numbers strongly suggest that a shade more than 100,000 homes will be built in England in 2009. This would represent a 40% drop on the peak year of 2007 and make 2009 a record peacetime...

Posted by Brian on November 19, 2009 10:22 AM

Has the housing mini-boom run out of puff?

All the gauges appear to be reading "set fair" in the housing market, so why the long faces among those in the know? The latest RICS housing market survey on the face of it provides every reason to suspect that...

Posted by Brian on November 10, 2009 12:34 PM

Orders figures continue to point to a rougher road ahead

For those poring over the latest new orders figures released today to find guidance on the future of construction activity I suspect there is something for the optimists, but rather more for the pessimists. It must be said that trying...

Posted by Brian on November 5, 2009 12:44 PM

Forecasts suggest some rays of hope, but huge uncertainty remains

For those with an optimistic nature there was some good news to be seen in the latest set of industry forecasts with both the Construction Products Association and Hewes trimming how much they feel output in the industry will fall....

Posted by Brian on October 16, 2009 12:35 PM

Future traders think the tide has turned for house prices

The futures market is now pricing in strong growth in the housing market, with the Halifax index priced to rise by 6% over the coming 12 months and by 12% over 5 years. This is a marked rise in the...

Posted by Brian on October 8, 2009 9:11 AM

How much has the recession cost house builders? um...

During a conversation with a colleague on the recent spate of cash calls by house builders I was quizzed on how much damage the recession had done to their balance sheets. I made a stab (a lucky guess as it...

Posted by Brian on September 29, 2009 2:56 PM

CIPS: construction still the sick man of the UK economy

There is nothing remarkable about the latest CIPS construction survey other than the comments, which are somewhat more guarded than those that accompanied last month's data. It found workload in the industry still falling on its measure which registered 47.7...

Posted by Brian on September 2, 2009 10:18 AM

House building figures show huge jump in starts and completions

There were two big boosts in the numbers released today for house builders. First, the latest Government data on homes built in England are by far the best for more than a year with a massive leap in the quarter...

Posted by Brian on August 20, 2009 11:45 AM

Ignore those saying new construction orders are on the rise

I feel sure there will be someone penning near euphoric words about the 18% rise in orders in the second quarter, which is the opening line of the statistical bulletin released today. Ignore it. The new orders figures bounce about...

Posted by Brian on August 6, 2009 10:10 AM

RICS: Housing market remains fragile, despite recent improvement

The message from the latest update on the housing market from the surveyors' body RICS is that while the market may have found a clearing it is not out of the woods yet. There has been a torrent of better...

Posted by Brian on August 6, 2009 9:06 AM

CIPS talk of optimism is baffling

The CIPS appeared to be putting a rather positive spin on its July figures for construction activity on the back of a slowdown in the pace of decline and swelling optimism among its respondents. The press release reads: "Optimism about...

Posted by Brian on August 4, 2009 10:43 AM

Odd ideas to kickstart house building No 93: Just give first-time buyers £10,000

What would happen if the taxpayer (via the Government) decided to give first-time buyers otherwise unable to raise a deposit £10,000 so they could buy a new home? The answer, at least on the face of it, is a bit...

Posted by Brian on July 26, 2009 9:36 AM

The spike mystery solved...well maybe

Following the poser I posted on that rather surprising spike in planning times for residential schemes, I have had a few questions and a few suggestions. The pint for the first (and sensible) response going to Alasdair Reisner, Head of...

Posted by Brian on July 20, 2009 10:51 AM

Building Britain's Future promises 45,000 new jobs building homes - That can't be right

Has anyone else prodded the sums on the 45,000 new jobs promised in the Building Britain's Future document as a result of the £1.5 billion pledged to stimulate building of 20,000 social and 10,000 private homes? I would have had...

Posted by Brian on July 6, 2009 5:51 PM

Why the "innovative" HCA Norwich City deal could prove very significant indeed

It is not just because I have family in Norwich and support Norwich City that I took a particular interest in the "innovative" deal recently struck between the city council and the Homes and Communities Agency. Nor was it because...

Posted by Brian on June 17, 2009 12:29 PM

5 reasons why we might be facing the mother of all construction recessions

It's coming around to the construction forecasting season again and the industry prognosticators will be gathering to discuss the ups and downs of the industry. If I were you, I'd be bracing myself for some pretty savage revisions to what...

Posted by Brian on June 16, 2009 2:50 PM

North-South divide develops in housing market - is it a cause for concern?

The latest housing market report from the surveyors' body RICS will provide further cheer for most of those selling homes. The June 2009 report suggests that the pace of collapse in prices continues to ease, the volume of sales has...

Posted by Brian on June 9, 2009 7:39 AM

Why you might want to raise a glass to building homes?

As we rage about the cost to the taxpayer of 80p bath plugs and the construction of elaborate duck houses, here's a figure to contemplate. For every new home built in recessionary times, each taxpayer is about 10p to 15p...

Posted by Brian on June 5, 2009 9:45 AM

CIPS construction index bounces back, but what does that mean?

The latest survey by the buyers' body CIPS shows a remarkable bounce back in the broad construction index towards the magic 50 no-change mark. The index has risen from 30.9 in April to 38.1 in May and up to 45.9...

Posted by Brian on June 2, 2009 12:16 PM

A glimpse of the future as 56% of surveyors see workload fall

Construction workload is expected to continue to collapse at a rapid pace according to the latest industry survey by the surveyors' body RICS. Surveyors experienced declines in workload across all regions and all sectors illustrating the broad spread of this...

Posted by Brian on May 27, 2009 9:18 AM