The RICS survey

Interesting corporate reporting shows that China and Brazil are taking Sustainability more seriously than USA and others, according to the RICS survey.

Why, whenever you get a group of business people together of any stature, do they quickly boast their sustainability consciousness and then quickly add the rider, usually as an under their breath  aside, some pejorative about it being a drag on commerce (again adding …”don’t quote me, of course!” ).

Speak out and grasp real sustainability

If our captains of industry think sustainability is optional and an inconvenience, tolerated for political correctness, then let them have the courage to be open and say so publicly. Their reluctance to lift their heads above the parapet is cowardly and damaging to industry if they are correct.

If, as most people increasingly believe, we confront a global problem of enormous magnitude that has to be addressed with urgency and resources, then our leaders of commerce need to understand they are blindly leading us into an environmental cataclysm if they fail to grasp real sustainability.

Surely they understand that these are the alternatives and they are either failing to provide leadership or are placing commercial self interest above what they should know needs to be done.

Sustainability = Common Sense Management

MASCo Sustainability has demonstrated repeatedly that sustainability represents the highest levels of efficiency and commercial effectiveness. Our clients have discovered, albeit reluctantly or belatedly, that they can make better profits from sustainable management of resources and materials. Many of our proposals and recommendations can be seen as commonsensical, but you would never believe how many companies fail to see the obvious and whose management do not understand what’s  happening in the workplace.

Commercial confidentiality prevents naming and shaming, but the evidence of profligate waste, poor planning and the failure to integrate management thinking we have well documented  for future reference.

Before it is too late, corporations and the wider  business community need to address Sustainability with vigour and sincere commitment.

We have “forgiven” or chosen to defer our anger with failed bankers….this time, we need to establish that the right to make profit is a two sided privilege that carries responsibility that cannot be waived if things go badly wrong next time.

Find out more about MASCo Sustainability by contacting us.

Saturday 21 November was my last night working at Ric’s Bar. It was the last Saturday night before the new owners took over.

They did not give my job back.

It wasn’t just a matter of losing a job. I’m sure I’ll find another one soon enough. It was about the death of my favourite bar. I was never a regular, but there’ll always be a special place in my heart for one of the first bars I ever drank at, the vodka-fuelled shenanigans and the great time I had working there.

Part One – Meeting Ric’s
2007. Age 18.

The house party wasn’t very interesting, so I sat in the front yard talking to my friend Amy.

I was in tragic post-breakup mode after, um, a breakup. My head was a mess. I needed to do something fun instead of moping around the house and writing depressing things. No, I don’t miss being an angsty teenager.

Amy suggested that I forget about my worries with a night out on the town. Freshly 18, I hadn’t yet had a proper night out in this mystical place called the Valley that my older friends had told me so much about. A drink or two at various pubs, sure, but not the all-night dancing boozefest that everyone else seemed to do. To a kid from the outer ‘burbs whose nightlife consisted of underage house parties that taste like Bundy and Coke, the Valley is the most exciting place ever.

“I’ll take you to Ric’s,” she said. “You’ll love it.”

One Friday night we wobbled down Brunswick St, suspicious waterbottles in hand, towards Ric’s. It was certainly different to any other bar I’d seen. Instead of steel and plasma TVs and laser lights, Ric’s was old and wooden. The neon sign out the front looked like it had come from a 1950s American diner. And wow! There was a pinball machine and old school video games inside! The nerdy and the vodka-loving parts of me were united at last.

Out the back and up the dangerously steep stairs was the dancefloor. The first song I heard was an acoustic cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”, one of my favourite songs of all time.

I liked this Ric’s place instantly.

But the dancefloor was empty. Sitting on the balcony overlooking the Brunswick St Mall, Amy explained to me that people don’t usually go out to the Valley at 9 o’clock. I didn’t really understand why.

So we decided to visit some other pubs and nightclubs. After a man danced thrustily at me in Birdee Num Nums I decided we should head back to Ric’s.

When we returned, a band was playing downstairs. An all-girl band had the crowd enthralled with sexy guitar riffs and shouty choruses. It was the first “local” band I ever saw and I’m annoyed that I can’t remember their name. We applauded their last song and headed back upstairs.

The dancefloor upstairs was full. The little balcony we were sitting at earlier was completely packed.

“See what I mean?” said Amy.

After ordering a few vodka and lemonades, we found a little space on the bouncing dancefloor. And danced. This place was my mp3 player. Yes, I was that annoying, screechy young girl who constantly yelled “OH MY GOD, I LOVE THIS SONG”. Gotta love 18-year-olds in pubs.

We must have danced for hours, but the only song I remember is Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with much terrible singing and dramatic poses.

Later on we went downstairs to sit at the Galaga machine. The DJ was playing The Grates. I danced with a cute Asian boy. He offered to buy me a drink, but I didn’t want to leave Amy behind.

“What’s the time?” I asked her.

“It’s… oh my god! It’s 3 o’clock! We’d better catch the bus home!”

After a ridiculously long journey back to Amy’s house where the bus seemed to drive down every street in Manly, I woke up with make-up caked on my face and kicked myself for not getting the boy’s phone number. Damn.

Part Two – Too Much Vodka
2007. 18 and a bit older.

It was the night before Good Friday. My intentions were simple: get drunk and hook up with someone. I am one classy broad.

As it usually happens when groups go out, people inevitably end up getting lost, distracted and separated. I somehow ended up with an ex-boyfriend (not the one in pt. 1) and a fellow from uni.

But then it was 11 o’clock and the pubs were shutting at midnight.
Except…

“Wait! Ric’s is open past midnight tonight! Let’s go!”

We did the epic City to Valley trek, chatting to other drunken groups along the way. And the neon sign and wooden bar and video games and warm red glow of the lights inside appeared like a beacon among the dingy trash of the Valley. It was very quiet upstairs for some reason. The DJ wasn’t playing classic rock or alternative tunes, but some sort of funk crossed with hip hop. Whatever. It was past midnight and the drinks were still flowing. The fellow from uni suggested that I add lime to my vodka and lemonade. What a great idea. So I ordered more. And more. And more.

I decided to sexily seduce a boy at the bar wearing a Nintendo shirt. Unfortunately instead of saying, “Hi there. I like your shirt”, I said something like “bleeeurghghhh cool shirt blaarghhh” and got glared at by a girl who I now realise must have been his girlfriend. I shuffled back over to the boys in sheer embarrassment, and bought another vodka.

I laughed. I danced. I started to sway. I saw all the lights and the people blur together. I blinked hard but still couldn’t see properly. And things started to go horribly wrong.

Two pairs of hands were helping me down the stairs, out into the somewhat fresh air of Brunswick St.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah yeah. I’m fine.”

“Are you going to be sick?”

“No, of course not.”

I narrowly missed my ex-boyfriend’s shoes.

“Oh my god. I’m sooo sorry.”

The boys picked me up and frogmarched me back towards Ric’s to get water. The security guard took one look at me and shook his head.
The boy from uni took me back to his apartment in the Valley. No not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter. I leaned against him and hoped the world would just be quiet and sit still. He decided the best course of action was to call my parents so they could take me home.

“Noooo! Nooooo!” I groaned.

But he did. And my parents drove all the way over to the Valley from Alex Hills at stupid o’clock in the morning to take my disgusting drunken self home. The next morning I was supposed to go to a family lunch but could not do anything except lie around in bed, moan and wallow in my brain-shattering misery. Luckily my family was quite amused by the whole situation.

“My niece is growing up,” my uncle said proudly.

Interlude
2008. Age 19.

Sometimes when I finished work at the pub at 2am or so, I’d drive into the Valley, buy a kebab and watch the drunks stumble around.

I hadn’t been to Ric’s for a long time. The particular circle of friends I had at the time never wanted to go there.

“Their drinks are too expensive,” they sneered. “And it’s full of pretentious hipster wankers.”

But one night I sat out in the mall just outside Ric’s, sour cream spilling through my fingers. The entire pub was howling along to “Hang me out to Dry” by the Cold War Kids. I love that song. And I missed going to Ric’s.

Part Three – The End of an Era
2009. Age 20-21

The new bar I’d just started working at decided that they couldn’t afford to pay me. What a load of crap.

“Why don’t you apply at Ric’s?” my good friend Nathan suggested.

“I can’t! I got way too drunk there once. What if they remember me?”

But I was desperate, so I e-mailed them.

I went in for a trial shift. There were a lot of staff working in such a small bar. I spent most of my shift trying to find somewhere to stand where I wouldn’t walk into somebody. I got the job.

For the first few months, I was a bit intimidated by it all. I hate being the new kid. I barely spoke to anybody. I felt awkward not knowing the little protocols around the place, especially after working at a certain debaucherous pub at the Gabba for such a long time.

But after a while, I figured it out. And I started to love it.

I liked dancing with my workmates.
I liked eating the famous $4 breakfast on my breaks.
I liked trying not to laugh as Matty (aka Harvey Satan) danced at customers at the bar when they weren’t looking.
I liked how the DJs played everything from 80s hits to new tunes to old school punk to hip hop rap to guilty pleasure pop and especially Nick Norton’s (aka DJ Up Yours Grandad!) habit of playing songs like “Dick in a Box”.
I liked knockoff drinks at the Galaga machine, bitching about rude customers and gossiping about the cute ones.
I liked the regulars: the guys who drink Jack Daniels and Scotch, the pretty girls with cool makeup who drink vodka or gin, the old rocker dudes who came to see the bands, gin-lime-and-soda boy who always tipped me because I remembered his drink, the middle-aged ladies who rivalled Matty’s outrageous dancing. Tight jeans and shaggy rockstar hair and eyeliner and fake nerd glassesand tattoos and piercings and that one fellow who looks and dresses exactly like Prince.
I liked that all my friends drank there and I still got to see them on weekends.
I liked gleefully telling obnoxious nightclubbing types that we did not sell Jagerbombs, Red Bull, XXXX Bitter or Bundy Rum and watching them throw a hissy fit.

And of course, I liked the bands. The creativity and talent in Brisbane is underrated, amazing and sometimes quite bizarre. I’m looking at you, robot-dancing dude who sang along to a looped sample of “Hollaback Girl”.

The last Saturday night was packed. It was busy, hot and I was grumpy. Then the vodka shots appeared. My 18-year-old self roared through the door, screaming and dancing for one last time.

There was hugging, crying, dancing on tables, throwing ice, resolving of sexual tension, graffiti-ing of all the walls and the amazing manager Trina crowd-surfing through the pub.

And I still managed to close the bar and clean up at the end of the night. I should put that on my resume. Skills: Able to work and party at the same time.

I walked out the big blue door for the last time to the sun shining and people setting up stalls for the Valley Markets. And I had the last late night/early morning Fat Boy’s breakfast I will ever have, kindly bought for me by a regular.

RIP Old Ric’s. We will miss you.

The end of the stamp duty ‘holiday’ on 31st December 2009 could dent the housing market recovery in Scotland and in those other regions that are already lagging behind, according to the latest research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). 

More surveyors in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands believe that they will see a drop in activity in 2010 following the end of the stamp duty holiday for properties priced between £125,000 and £175,000 at the end of this year. Tellingly, more surveyors in Wales and the East Midlands were still seeing price falls rather than rises in the last housing market survey. Meanwhile in the West Midlands, only 3 percent more surveyors saw prices rising in October.

Elsewhere, however, the majority of chartered surveyors are not expecting the end of the stamp duty incentive to distort the housing market, despite the benefit it has provided first-time buyers. Unsurprisingly, it is those working in London and the South East who overwhelmingly agree that it is not forcing more houses onto the market now, and will not lead to a drop in activity once the old system is re-introduced – demonstrating that the holiday has had limited impact in those regions as the average house price soars above the stamp duty threshold.

By contrast, in the North of England where the £116,051 average price is well below the threshold, there is less concern about the impact of the end of the stamp duty holiday. However, the regions that are most concerned about the impact are those whose average prices sit well within the margins that are directly affected by the holiday. These are: Scotland (£140,175) the East Midlands (£133,973), the West Midlands (£142,969), Wales (£134,690).

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist said: “The additional transaction cost is still a worry to many, particularly first-time buyers, and is a threat to the market in the areas of the country that are still seeing a weak price environment. A return to the status quo will be of benefit to no one.”

My verdict: In three weeks’ time the government will introduce its pre-budget report ­– a golden opportunity to announce the dumping of the current Stamp Duty’s discredited ‘banded’ structure, replacing it with a marginal system with no homebuyer paying anything on the first £150,000 of their new home. Simple, straightforward, and would end the need for price-chipping and dodgy practices that are prevalent around the borders of the current bands.

Such a move would encourage the first-time buyers to get into the market – especially given the current oversupply of urban one-bedroom apartments. And that £150,000 threshold could easily rise in line with inflation. Only one problem –Gordon Brown is addicted to stealth taxes and is unlikely to allow his Chancellor to breath transparency into any area of taxation.

Stewart McIntosh

 www.rics.org

It’s been a week of education in the spotlight.

Against a backdrop of 44% of Graduates in the dole queue, the Degree has found its way into the news.

Bright Oxford Graduate with degree (aka my daughter Jade)

I am a Licenced Assessor for the RICS which means that I (with two other Assessors) stand between a candidate being able to call themselves a Chartered Surveyor and a dreaded ‘referral’ – in old money a ‘fail’. The basic entry point is a Degree, but the real test on the assessment day is not just a test of knowledge – but how to apply that knowledge. It never ceases to amaze me that some of the best paper candidates turn out to be quite average on the day. The mix of knowledge and application is critical.

I also heard Desert Island Discs in the week with Anthony Julius – the lawyer who famously represented Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles. When asked about what made a good lawyer, I though his answer rang true. He said that the ‘intelligence’ part (measured by Degree?) was a given. But what shone? Good judgement was the answer. An ability to look beyond the current problem and think through the clients short, medium and long term positions.

I spend most of my day making judgements – and so often have to weigh up ‘commercial realities’. Sometimes they may go against the technical legal position, or even against ‘fairness’. So often we can get bogged down in the detail – so stop seeing the bigger picture.

My point is that a Degree in certain business or other work scenarios may be the starting point – but actually what counts is what Anthony Julius said – it’s good judgement. And that is difficult to teach. But in nursing, the judgement call might be when someone needs some care. I hope that the nurses who are good at caring are not put off by the apparent need to get an education to this level! That would be a shame. I am not knocking those who do get a degree!

We have become a society obsessed with teaching to test. Sometimes we should appreciate that vocational work has as much to offer – even if it is different to the academic approach. And nursing, I think, is first and foremost a vocation.

House prices continue to rise despite an increase in the number of new instructions received by agents, according to the latest RICS UK housing market survey, published today.

The net balance of chartered surveyors reporting rises rather than falls in house prices reached a positive reading of 34 per cent in October, up from 20 per cent in September – the highest result since December 2006. London is leading the upturn in prices with the net balance of surveyors reporting rises rather than falls for London climbing to 95 per cent – the highest figure since December 1996.

The survey also reveals that vendors are beginning to return to the market. A net balance of 15 per cent of surveyors reported that new instructions had increased in October, compared to a reading of five per cent in September. Significantly, all regions reported a rise in instructions for the first time since the onset of the credit crunch with the North, the South West and London leading the way.

Meanwhile, transaction levels continued to rise with sales per surveyor edging up to 19 over the past three months. As a result, the ‘sales to stock ratio’ – a measure of market slack and an indicator of future prices – climbed a little further. It has now risen for ten consecutive months.

However, the pace of improvement in buyer interest slowed for the fourth consecutive month. The net balance of surveyors reporting an increase, rather than a decrease, in new buyer enquiries slipped from 35 per cent in September to 31 per cent in October.

Jeremy Leaf of the RICS said:

Although the supply of property is beginning to pick-up, it is still insufficient to keep pace with the increase in demand which points to further prices gains in the near term. Cheap money remains a critical prop for the market and this is being reflected in the continuing appetite for finance from first-time buyers despite the large deposits still being demanded by lenders.

The RICS measures house price changes by asking its members the following question:

“Indicate by how much average house prices have changed over the last three months. (Answers being ‘falling’, ‘the same’ or ‘rising’).

RICS’ housing market survey is the longest running monthly survey of house prices in the UK, collecting data since January 1978. The survey is cited by the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee at its monthly interest rate setting meetings. 

Stewart McIntosh

www.rics.org

The UK’s construction sector remains blighted by a lack of development finance, with workloads falling across almost all sectors during the third quarter of the year – according to the latest RICS survey of the sector. Surveyors in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the post pessimistic about an increase in workloads.

The only exception to the decline in construction activity was the non-housing public works sector, where workloads reached their most positive level since the first quarter of 2008. Described by Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, as “an important crutch for the industry”, an acceleration in planned public sector capital spending is now filtering through into the construction of new schools and hospitals

Elsewhere, workloads continued to decline, although at a lesser pace than in the second quarter of the year. The private commercial and industrial sectors remain the weakest part of the construction industry with larger negative readings than either public housing or infrastructure construction.

Interestingly, surveyors are marginally more positive about the outlook for the next twelve months, with nine per cent more respondents expecting output to rise than fall – the first positive reading since the first quarter of 2008.

Although employment is thought likely to fall a little further, the net balance of respondents expecting to see a reduced headcount narrowed to just 3 per cent compared with 24 per cent in the second quarter and 46 per cent in the first three months of the year.

 Despite this, the proportion of surveyors reporting skill shortages fell to just two per cent, the lowest reading since the question was first asked in 1998.

Simon Rubinsohn said: “With development finance currently still in short supply it is hardly surprising that workloads remain under pressure. The good news is that the picture does not appear to be getting very much worse and there is even a little more optimism about prospects. However, the continuing squeeze on profit margins is a concern alongside the likely scaling back in government projects over the coming years.

“Sadly there is little evidence as yet that residential home starts are picking up which is a particular worry given that a shortage of stock is contributing to the recent rebound in house prices.”

Stewart McIntosh

www.rics.org

בניה ירוקה בארה”ב עם רמת תקן גבוהה – ENERGY STAR®, מביאה רמת שכירויות גבוהה ב – 3% עד 6% ל – Sq/ft, בהשוואה לנכסים בבניה רגילה באותו מיקום וגודל.

הנתון, על פי סקר שנערך לאחרונה ע”י מוסד תקינה מוביל: RICS – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

הסקר שנערך הוכיח כי ישנו ערך כלכלי ברור, מתקינה של בניין כ”בניין ירוק”. סוג התקינה המדוברת – ENERGY STAR®, הינו תו תקן של ארגון משותף של משרד האנרגיה וסוכנות להגנת הסביבה של ממשלת ארה”ב, שמשימתו לסייע לאזרחים פרטיים ולעסקים ברחבי המדינה, להגן על הסביבה, תוך כדי חסכון שנוצר מהגעה ליעילות אנרגטית מעולה.

הסקר גם התייחס לרמת המחירים ההשוואתית שניתן להשיג ממכירה של נכס בבניה ירוקה, ביחס לנכס רגיל. גם כאן התוצאות מראות בבירור ערך כלכלי משמעותי הגלום בבניה ירוקה עם 16% תשואה עודפת במחיר מכירה.

בתגובה לתוצאותיו של הסקר אומר הכלכלן הראשי של RICS, מר סימון רובינשון: “מסמך מחקר שכזה הינו ביסוס צעד ראשון וחשוב בבניית  ההוכחות על ערכו האמיתי של בית “ירוק”. לפני כן, השוק עבד רק עם עם דוגמאות נקודתיות, לתמיכה בקבלת החלטות של משקיעים ועסקים, בדיון על התועלות שבבניה ירוקה. כל עוד לא היתה אמירה כלכלית ברורה, הדיון התייחס לפרמטרים כמו רמת היעילות האנרגטית המתקבלת מתהליך הבניה הירוקה. בהתאם, ניתן היה להבין מדוע השוק מאמץ באיטיות רבה כל כך את מגוון הבדיקות הקיים, לתקינה של היעילות האנרגטית. ככל שמאגר הנתונים המוכחים, כמו הסקר הנ”ל, יהיה מקיף ומבוסס יותר, הטיעון לכדאיות הכלכלית של בניה ירוקה עם רמת אנרגטיות גבוהה יותר, יהיה חזק יותר.”

בהתייחס לעתיד, מוסיף מר רובינשון: “כל עסק השואף למכסם את רווחיו, יהיה חייב להתחיל לבחון את רמת ההתייעלות האנרגטית של הבניינים שלו, כדי להישאר תחרותי. על ידי הוכחה שבניינים ירוקים עדיפים מבחינה כלכלית, גם מהחיסכון שנוצר מהגעה לרמת יעילות אנרגטית גבוהה וגם מתשואה עודפת על הנכס משכירות ובמחיר מכירה, בניינים “רגילים” יהפכו בסופו של דבר למיושנים והרבה פחות מבוקשים.”

Every day is a funny day. I can hear a voice calling the horses on a cheap am radio. The birds don’t seem to mind. This morning a woman asked me to edit her love letter while I was sitting at a cafe. She sat down. I said nothing. Then she congratulated me on having done such a splendid job. It being Monday I get to write the stars first up. Today was one of those days where I knew I had to sit back, take a deep breath and give the planets a really good once over. Having had a deadline or six to write stars for nearly 15 years now, I can say for certain that as symbols they have enough depth to handle a whole lot of looking into them. Naturally every time I look, I am looking into myself. I trust that there’s enough universality to my experience for it to translate to other people’s experience. I have been accused of having a camera in my reader’s bedrooms. I’m trusting that is a good piece of feedback – and not paranoia that will come back to haunt me. And isn’t ‘pronoia’ a great word? The exact opposite. Seeing all the hopeful possibilities when projecting ahead. The bloke who writes Free Will Astrology in the States has written a book about it. I tip my hat.

My Book is due out soon; in fact i’m expecting it any day. I am available for sessions. I am certainly up for running workshops and giving talks. My songs are up at Bandcamp, itunes and more. Lion Island is to be found on Bandcamp too and at MySpace. We are launching our first EP at Rics in The Valley (Brisbane) on the 16th of October. Go to the links over there to your right. And be there if you can.

I can be contacted at astropoetica@gmail.com

Have fun!

Sudhir

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published statistics suggesting that residential rental rates are likely to rise in the United Kingdom, and that the number of properties available for rent are finally falling. This will come as positive news for most landlords, many of whom struggled with falling rents and rising vacancies in regions of Britain where the balance between supply and demand tipped heavily in favour of tenants looking for bargains. According to the new RICS survey, only 6 percent of surveyors reported that they experienced an increase in the number of properties that landlords affiliated with them were trying to rent. This represents a very noticeable decline from the 21 percent rate measured this past spring. These numbers represent the state of Britain’s buy-to-let market up until July 31st, but the trend is almost certain to continue through the fall.

A RICS spokesperson told The Times that what may be happening is that a rise in the value of residential properties is convincing many accidental landlords to leave the buy-to-let business and sell their real estate instead. This is also having a positive impact on rents, which declined quite dramatically in some areas, early this year. According to the RICS survey, 29 percent of surveyors reported that rents were still on their way down, but it is important to remember that this represents a major improvement over the 55 percent figure which characterized the market during the first quarter.
RLA News

Commenting on the Government’s announcement that they are to appoint a Chief Adviser on Construction, RICS director of external affairs Gillian Charlesworth says:

“Appointing a Chief Construction Adviser recognises the importance of construction to the wider economy and will enable the built environment professions and the commercial construction industry to have a greater impact with government.

The industry has lacked the high profile figure who is able to act as a champion for construction, add professional experience and expertise to policy making and legislative processes and improve procurement. To be effective the person appointed to the role must have the respect of those involved in construction as well as government. He or she must ensure that standards and professionalism are seen as essential to a successful construction sector. One of the key challenges will be ensuring the efficiency of procurement processes and the relationship with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) will be of vital importance to the success of the role.”

Government funding for public sector projects is helping to keep the UK construction industry alive, according to the latest market report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Construction workloads remain in negative territory for the fifth consecutive quarter, with 26 percent more surveyors reporting a fall rather than a rise in overall workloads, up from a net balance of -45 in the first quarter.
However, workloads in non-housing public sector construction reached their most positive level since the fourth quarter of 2007, as the increases in state spending started to filter through into new projects in education and other areas.
Private housing saw a significant reduction in the number of surveyors reporting falling workloads. As recently as the final quarter of last year, 66 per cent more surveyors were reporting a fall in workloads. This figure lessened to 49 per cent in the first three months of the year and 28 percent in the second quarter. The worst hit areas were the private commercial sector and the private industrial sector, which recorded negative net balances of 41 per cent and 39 per cent respectively.
The outlook for the next twelve months is still depressed, although less so than in the previous quarter. Optimism for workloads is creeping towards positive territory, with the net balance standing at a mere -8 percent. Confidence is most negative when it comes to profit margins, with 48 per cent more surveyors anticipating a further squeeze.
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “Activity is still declining across the construction sector, but state spending is providing some much needed support for the construction industry with public sector works reaping the benefits.”
He went on to say that better news about the residential sector in the media appears to be filtering through to the private housing sector, although workloads are still falling.
“Against this backdrop, the employment picture will deteriorate further, with more redundancies likely to be announced in the sector over the rest of this year.”

Já pensou que legal seria um site com todos os blogs da cidade listados? Pois é, o Rics também, e por isso ele criou o Maringá blogs.

O objetivo é catalogar os blogs da cidade, para que no futuro o site se torne um ponto de referência sobre a blogosfera maringaense.

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The RICS housing market survey for June 09 has just been released.  Key findings are:

• Sales rose again but from very depressed levels. The average numbers of properties sold per surveying firm in the East Midlands, over the past three months, rose to 15, up from 13 in May, which is above the national average
• Newly agreed sales increased sharply in the region with 39 percent more Chartered Surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in newly agreed sales in June, compared to seven percent in the previous month
• Eleven percent more Chartered Surveyors expect house prices to fall rather than rise over the next three months, an improvement on May’s figures, when 29 percent of surveyors said they expect house prices to fall rather than rise.

Download the full report here: RICS Housing Market Survey – June 2009

Commenting on the latest survey from Halifax which shows that house prices rose by 2.6% in May Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist said

It is still difficult to develp a consistent, reliable and robust model for how the housing market is performing during the current recession.  “Its not like previous recessions” is the defence put up by many of the usual pundits and I (at least) remain confused by the wide variety of prognostications about the length, depth and width of the recession and what the eventual recovery path will look like.

However, I’m happy to pass on new evidence to inform the debate.  Latest findings of the RICS East Midlands Housing Market Survey suggest:

• Residential sales in April edged up in the East Midlands
• the net balance of Chartered Surveyors reported that new buyer enquires had risen again in the region
• New enquiries in the market increased for the sixth consecutive month. 39 per cent more Chartered Surveyors in the East Midlands reported a rise rather than a fall in new buyer enquiries up from 18 per cent in March.
• In the East Midlands surveyors sold an average of 13 properties over the past three months, up from 12
• The balance of newly agreed sales also continued to rise
• 83 per cent more Chartered Surveyors in the East Midlands reported a fall rather than rise in house prices 
• 27 per cent more surveyors reported a fall rather than a rise in new instructions to sell.

I’m happy to pass on a copy of the full report to those who are interested.  let me know if you want a copy.  Alternatively, the contact at RICS is:

Lisa Davidson, PR & Communications Co-ordinator, RICS East, 01223 470570. 

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Talybont-on-Usk Energy is continuing to spread the word.
Last month saw us talking to the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors, Mid Wales branch. This included a tour of the turbine house and a presentation about the history of the Talybont-on-Usk hydro project.
March also saw the start of the 2009 Borderlines film festival, the biggest film festival in the Midlands. Talybont-on-Usk Energy took part in the festival’s climate change day. The day included a showing of the new film “The Age of Stupid” (www.ageofstupid.net) – I cannot recommend this film enough! The day also included a presentation by Talybont-on-Usk Energy highlighting that it is possible for communities to make a difference.

April started with Talybont-on-Usk Energy talking to a school group that was taking part in the Brecon Beacons National Park education programmes that looks at the sustainability of Talybont-on-Usk and the generation of hydro energy.

This week Talybont-on-Usk Energy was interviewed by Iolo ap Dafydd (Environment Correspondent for BBC Wales) for a feature for the BBC Radio Wales programme: Country Focus. We don’t know yet when the interview will be broadcast so look out for it. The interview will be forming part of a wider feature looking at The Green Valley project (www.thegreenvalleys.org) which is the only Welsh finalist in The Big Green Challenge (www.biggreenchallenge.org.uk) – the project has the opportunity to win £1 million. This money would be used to improve the sustainability of communities within the Brecon Beacons National Park with a particular focus on community owned hydro projects.

So one way or another people are hearing about us and, hopefully, being inspired.

By the way it is not too late to take part in our electric bike trial. We are pretty booked up for the next few weeks but the bikes have more availability later into May and the summer months. For more information see previous blogs below.