Brickonomics

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

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

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...

Posted by Brian on May 8, 2009 10:03 AM

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...

Posted by Brian on April 9, 2009 3:02 PM

Red alert as new orders plunge to record low in January

January 2009: the worst monthly new orders figures ever recorded And with little sign that February will be prove any better, the latest figures for new orders underline the collapse of construction across the board. Every sector - even public...

Posted by Brian on March 12, 2009 10:51 AM

Construction new orders: the Good the Bad and the Ugly

The latest new orders figures confirm the dire state of work in the construction pipeline. There was a drop of £6 billion in new work construction won in 2008 compared with 2007, which points to a rough road ahead. While...

Posted by Brian on February 12, 2009 10:41 AM

Experian cuts forecast for construction growth but predicts a boom in infrastructure

With the release of the heavily downgraded forecast from the Construction Products Association released this morning I was keen to see how the forecasters at Experian saw future workload in the industry this time around. The answer is that they...

Posted by Brian on January 12, 2009 5:17 PM

Darling's bid might steer construction away from a nasty recession

Less than a fortnight ago I wondered whether we might see a return to Keynesian-style cash injections to buoy the real economy and more specifically construction. I recall other similar comments in the media. Now it seems from stories in...

Posted by Brian on October 19, 2008 5:08 PM

Construction output falls 0.5% - but the drop is probably worse than it looks

So the construction output figures post a fall of 0.5% in the second quarter and recession in construction now looks more of a forgone conclusion than a fear The first point to note is that was not just the private...

Posted by Brian on September 5, 2008 11:43 AM