Worrying news about housing industry

natman

Hi.
Woke up this morning and saw this news regarding how the credit crunch, mortgage worries are now begining to cut deep into the UK -

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aTS9oLQO1JHE&refer=news

What do people feel about this? Are there any people who have directly or undirectly been effected -or is this scaremongering???

Pobby

I think that the article is on the right track. A friend of mine in Dublin was telling me that building sites are closing down out there. I also here this is now happening here.

honeypop

I work for an architects, we design the homes for the Homebuilders mentioned and more, they have already started laying off staff and closing branches. Our work is also set to decrease as the need for new housing estates declines, although for the very near future it looks ok as many Homebuilders continue with their current planning applications etc.

So, although we're not a Homebuilder, we will suffer when the work tails off as no-one looks to build new homes so we won't have anything to design or put the planning application through for.

And yes the decline in new housing will then affect the materials suppliers, legal people, removals ect... basically everyone involved the in the process from designing new homes to people moving into them.

Jorgan_2

honeypop wrote: »

And yes the decline in new housing will then affect the materials suppliers, legal people, removals ect... basically everyone involved the in the process from designing new homes to people moving into them.

The effects will be more widespread than just companies traditionally involved with house buying/selling, IMO. I know of one printer thats gone into administration as they used to produce items for developers, a plant hire company has laid off staff because a builder they supplied equipment to has gone bust.

A friend of mine is a senior manager for a garage & is already drawing up plans to lay off one salesperson & possibley two mechanics as people aren't buying cars at present and they seem to be holding off on the servicing side.

honeypop

Jorgan wrote: »

The effects will be more widespread than just companies traditionally involved with house buying/selling, IMO.

Yes I meant everyone involved, even the people you don't think of like printers/plant hire, down to the 'little people' like the guy who hand paints our 'artists impressions', the lady we keep in business with our stationery orders (with a LOT of printing), gardeners who get contracted to do the landscaping on the new developments etc

Conrad

This is the new era as the old easy money culture dies;

Rising prices as billions more people in developing nations start to consume finite food and resources

Expensive credit as there are now far fewer lenders and those that remain what a return to profitable mortgages and pricing for risk.


The Africans are now also on the development journey as new style leaders are taking it as thier duty to develop from within. Africa has the fastest growing mobile phone market for example.
All these people need to share in resources that were once the preserve of westerners.

People really need to wake up and understand this is'nt a passing phase, but the new reality.

We need to learn an entirely new way of life folks, which means a big step away from mindless consumption. Take a look at all the toys and party gifts your kids have built up. I bet 95% of them never get touched and will all be dumped - what an appauling way to treat the Earth.

thriftybabe

We personally have had one site totally stop building altogether. Another which was doing well is now not building all the units due to a lot of people pulling out of sales. There has been quite a number of people paid off and lots of others that know when the site that they are on are finished they will lose their job. We usually have anywhere between 3 and 5 contracts. We really need 3 at least to substain our apprentices etc however we have only 1 from June which lasts to Christmas. We have another few irons in the fire but nothing guaranteed. Just need to wait and see but already know that we will be paying off staff and subcontractors if things do not pick up - which i do not see happening anytime soon.

setmefree2

Conrad wrote: »

Take a look at all the toys and party gifts your kids have built up. I bet 95% of them never get touched and will all be dumped - what an appauling way to treat the Earth.

Hi all,

I agree with all the points on this thread. However, I don't agree that all the stuff that has been made and bought in the last decade has been dumped. My kids played, for example, with their toys alot. However, even the most loved will eventually be out grown. When they were finsihed with, I passed them on - to friends, to charity shops, etc. The things that have been made over the last decade still exist - maybe they'll just be appreciated more in the next decade as we become less of a "throw away" culture.:D

Conrad

Setmefree

I commend you for passing on toys to tohers, but alas you are not the norm I think, and further more it is clear we as a nation massively over consume as simple arithmatic dictates that if all people were to consume as we do we would need more than 3 planets.

I love the feeling of not being a slave to mindless consumption of stuff - just collections of atoms, with some designers name on, so he gets even richer as mugs line up and fall for it every time.

I over consume massivly myself, if I analyise everything I do, for example I dont really need a computer, it's just a convienience that took masses of minerals out of the soil to build and continues to suck on electricity every second which in turn is generated from buring fosilised forests.

setmefree2

Conrad wrote: »

Setmefree

I commend you for passing on toys to tohers, but alas you are not the norm I think, and further more it is clear we as a nation massively over consume as simple arithmatic dictates that if all people were to consume as we do we would need more than 3 planets.

I love the feeling of not being a slave to mindless consumption of stuff - just collections of atoms, with some designers name on, so he gets even richer as mugs line up and fall for it every time.

I over consume massivly myself, if I analyise everything I do, for example I dont really need a computer, it's just a convienience that took masses of minerals out of the soil to build and continues to suck on electricity every second which in turn is generated from buring fosilised forests.

Hi

I don't disagree with anything you say. But you surely can't be suggesting that everything that has benn made in the last decade has made it's way to landfill?

WTF?_2

Pobby wrote: »

I think that the article is on the right track. A friend of mine in Dublin was telling me that building sites are closing down out there. I also here this is now happening here.

Check this out (especially the photos at the bottom):

http://www.gavinsblog.com/2008/05/20/ghost-developments/


There was massive, massive overbuilding in Ireland (the government there were basically in the pockets of the building industry) which will make the bust there even more painful than the one about to hit Britain.