Watch the builders

ginandtonic1988

There is possibly some form of recovery taking place, house reservations that were previously being given shared equity are not happening now. They are still giving discounts but no shared equity, either the builders can't afford to give it or the clients are not requiring it.

house123

ginandtonic1988 wrote: »

There is possibly some form of recovery taking place, house reservations that were previously being given shared equity are not happening now. They are still giving discounts but no shared equity, either the builders can't afford to give it or the clients are not requiring it.

If the builders have effectively shut up shop until better times then they must surely believe the resent upturn in the housing market is not sustainable. In fact, it’s a little unnerving that they are not showing any interest at all. What have they forecast for? Only time will tell.

thriftybabe

Graham_Devon wrote: »

There were 56 people laid off this month, according to my dad who used to work for a company here. He only knows as one of his work partners there was one of them. Just no work apparently, so they have tried to put as many into after sales as possible, but you can only have so many people sorting out defects.

Most of the laying off was done in January however, over 200 then, however, what doesnt get reported is all the self employed they use, who are not getting contracted in. All their painters, brick layers etc were self employed and paid on a per brick / per house basis.

Those people, are simply not in the stats.

I agree with you. One of the guys that worked for us who is self-employed was told that he could not go to the unemployed he had to go to the social (i think) or whatever the other title is. He said this was purely that he would not be on the stats.

It is absolutely horrendous where we are and there is no sign of life. Trying hard not to get down about it but it is really hard as we are taking things day by day.

stonethrower

Ive found over the years construction is usually one of the first to get hit in a recession and one of the last to recover, and from what I see we a nowhere near out of it yet. I know loads of lads looking for work and loads that have just got enough to keep them going.

house123

stonethrower wrote: »

Ive found over the years construction is usually one of the first to get hit in a recession and one of the last to recover, and from what I see we a nowhere near out of it yet. I know loads of lads looking for work and loads that have just got enough to keep them going.

Yes, unemployment in construction normally does lags. What I find worrying is there is not any hint of investment for the house builders, which some use as the leading indicator for a strengthening in the housing market and thus in prices.
But what do I know, there share prices will probably rocket next week as the builders announce that the housing market is growing again, that prices are on the up and it’s time to buy land and get building again. I guess we will see!