Destruction of the Building Industry

Really2

Building industry is having a bit of a come back on the FTSE, have a look at some shares compared to there pre Christmas lows.

The stock market is obviously feeling a bit more confident about them as many have now restructured or refinanced debt.

vivatifosi

Really2 wrote: »

Building industry is having a bit of a come back on the FTSE, have a look at some shares compared to there pre Christmas lows.

The stock market is obviously feeling a bit more confident about them as many have now restructured or refinanced debt.

Sadly they are still laying off though, and that helps the FTSE up ironically.

Really2

vivatifosi wrote: »

Sadly they are still laying off though, and that helps the FTSE up ironically.

I Agree but building was beter than august last year (many were having fire sales)

I live on site that is still being developed.

They have re-employed (only a samll team) and are building again after what was around 6 months+ of no building.

thriftybabe

bo_drinker wrote: »

Probably very true but this time it is all the way across the board. In reality the jobs I spoke about being shelved was because of them wanting finance and not being able to get it or bitten off more than they can chew. Tough times ahead, but I will happily move on, many will struggle and wait for the up turn. Don't hold your breath.

Thriftybabe where are you ???

Reading with interest Bo! It has literally fell off a cliff. We have never seen anything like this. My OH and I have very little work. He has priced lots of work but nothing happening. We have paid off all our apprentice except 1. We have also paid off guys that have worked with us for 12 years! We have a small core of guys at the moment who are off for the next 2 weeks as there is nothing.

Prices have came down dramatically with an increased risk! The guys that are working for us have all had wages drops. My OH and I are hoping that we will make our overhead costs this year. We do not think we will make a wage. We have another small company doing extensions which may see us through. Once DS is at school then i will make a decision about work outside Construction.

We have been in touch numerous times over the last 6 - 8 months with CITB regarding help with our Apprentices and guess what we got none! We had 5 and now have 1. We did manage to see the others through their time but by the skin of our teeth and it cost us personally. However OH is so loyal to them he did not mind.

Friends and family are deeply affected. Someone we know in a very high position got paid off and cannot get a job anywhere in Construction. It not only hurts financially but also pride is hurt. I feel so sorry for guys who have worked in this and are now sitting at home while there wives go out to work. This is really going to the heart of families.

Subcontractors that we have not managed to keep are not getting much work. They are getting a day here and there and a lot of them are doing homers. As they only pay Class 4 NI they are not entitled to much from the Social. A young guy we know has 2 children, wife, mortagage and is getting £21 per week! I don't now how these things work but my goodness it must be a nightmare.

It is so sad for all people concerned.

alared

bo_drinker wrote: »

It wasn't the building industry that fuelled the runaway house prices there was a demand so they supplied, like any other product. People were buying off plan without a brick laid, so the demand was there. They were brainwashed into the belief that"house prices only ever go up" and therefore they had better buy now.

Of course it was the greedy builders who hiked the prices.
If you went in any showroom the first thing these vultures said "buy now,put your deposit down because the prices are rising weekly".
They release a few plots at a time so they can continue to rack up the price.

Amazingly,these same builders,who have fuelled the market and ripped-off house buyers,with their hype,for the past 7 years, are all of a sudden pleading poverty and saying they`re about to go bust.

Well go bust!

bo_drinker

alared wrote: »

Of course it was the greedy builders who hiked the prices.
If you went in any showroom the first thing these vultures said "buy now,put your deposit down because the prices are rising weekly".
They release a few plots at a time so they can continue to rack up the price.

Amazingly,these same builders,who have fuelled the market and ripped-off house buyers,with their hype,for the past 7 years, are all of a sudden pleading poverty and saying they`re about to go bust.

Well go bust!

Supply and demand etc etc. The greed of the punters and ease of credit fuelled it and they took advantage and then mew'd a bit further down the line for the 4x4 etc etc. Anyone supplying any product would have done the same when banks could not throw enough cash at the punters, it was a crazy situation we were in. When the !!!!!! hit the fan who went down? builders, estate agents etc. Who were propped up? the banks, the ones who were throwing money round and investing in the US sub prime situation. The banks are largely to blame for a lot of it, which is why we are where we are today. Prices ran away from the ftb'ers so what did the banks do? offer 4,5 + x income just to get them on board the merry go round, the house builder was supplying the demand as was the car dealer etc when credit was easy to obtain, by who ?? The banks

chucknorris

geoffky wrote: »

The above post is just exactly how it was when i left school in 1980..out of 260 leaving just eight of us had a job to go to....

I graduated in 1990 and went into the building industry and it was a nightmare for about 3 years, fortunately for me they were letting experienced (on higher salaries) staff go and handing more responsibility to younger graduates so although it worked out well for me, building professionals and obviouy tradesmen were in real low demand.

Thrugelmir

bo_drinker wrote: »

Supply and demand etc etc. The greed of the punters and ease of credit fuelled it and they took advantage and then mew'd a bit further down the line for the 4x4 etc etc. Anyone supplying any product would have done the same when banks could not throw enough cash at the punters, it was a crazy situation we were in. When the !!!!!! hit the fan who went down? builders, estate agents etc. Who were propped up? the banks, the ones who were throwing money round and investing in the US sub prime situation. The banks are largely to blame for a lot of it, which is why we are where we are today. Prices ran away from the ftb'ers so what did the banks do? offer 4,5 + x income just to get them on board the merry go round, the house builder was supplying the demand as was the car dealer etc when credit was easy to obtain, by who ?? The banks

Agree with your sentiments. Too many people saw a quick profit in trading property. Buy at auction often without even seeing it. Do it up. Sell it on 2 months later. £20k profit , a years wage for very little.

Now it's just a question of surviving until the market turns round which it will in due course. And maybe settling for earning a reasonable profit for work done rather than an excessive one.

Pobby

One thing, there was a pile of money to be had in building. A relative ran a small roofing firm. A few years ago I thought I was doing well with my little business but nothing compared to the 6 figure income he was enjoying. In the south east there was tremendous confidence that the whole thing would carry on. Any little space in certain towns were filled by over priced dwellings. Horrible many of them were.

For some of the builders it was spend, spend , spend. Some people even gave up perfectly good jobs to buy houses and do them them up, sale and start over again.

Well it all seems that it has gone horribly wrong. Relative has had one week of solid work otherwise it`s odd days. He is committed to a mortgage, car loan and a lease on a works van. His wife only works part time, very worrying. Others, the new comer property flippers are more than likely stuck with stuff that they can`t sell.

StevieJ

Building industry still struggling :cool:



The key points from the latest release are:

• Orders in the three months to February 2009 fell by 9 per cent compared with the previous three month period
• Orders in the 12 months to February 2009 fell 24 per cent compared with the previous 12 months and orders in three months to February 2009 fell by 34 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier
• In the three months to February 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier, private housing orders fell by 51 per cent and public and housing association housing orders fell by 46 per cent

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/prep/720.asp