Big builders going to the wall

I apologise nanna8 as I'm not a regular poster on here . I don't know where you are living. I have a lot to say about the building industry.

nanna8 is in Australia,; Melbourne, IIRC.

Looking through other posts I have seen that you are in Australia. Big builders here in GB seem to be making good profits. I would be happy to see some fail here. The majority doing the hard work of labouring are employed unfairly with no benefits at all. Gone are the days when builders employed their own staff. The work is now taken on by contractors who supply the labour.
For this reason I would like to see some companies fail here.

Large guild by firms are doing well in this part of England....huge housing estates going up everywhere and they struggle to get tradesmen. Small firms seem to be benefiting from home limped and the good ones have waiting lists.

Big builders going to the wall ?
What ever next?
Plumbers going down the pan?
Wheels coming off the haulage industry?
Train operators going off the rails?
Gas suppliers disappearing into thin air?

(Sorry, couldn’t resist it!)

The trouble here is that there are no end of new homes being built but not the infrastructure to cope with them.

😁 Foxygloves.
And roofers staying out on the tiles
Communications companies out of touch
Water companies going down the drain

Loving it Juliet27
Multi-fuel manufacturers going up in smoke?
Ferry operators going through overboard?

Cement workers stuck in a rut
Carpenters job turned to dust
Crane drivers heads in the clouds

Sorry nanna8 it was a serious subject. Forgive us.

Our small market town is in the process of building hundreds of new homes what once was fields where I used to walk my dog is now to be covered with rows of new builds.
No new infrastructure so I hope they don't need doctors or schools

rosie1959

Our small market town is in the process of building hundreds of new homes what once was fields where I used to walk my dog is now to be covered with rows of new builds.
No new infrastructure so I hope they don't need doctors or schools

Same here, Rosie, but people have to live somewhere. I don't know what the answer is. I don't like seeing my lovely home town growing in all directions, and being smothered with new-build boxes, (and I agree about the infrastructure problems) but where are young people going to find homes if we don't build more?

Around here all too many of the houses are 4 bedroomed detahed when what is needed is 2 and 3 bedroomed starter homes.

Builders don't like building starter homes as they are obviously a lot less profitable. When they submit plans for permission they are required, with big estates, to build a certain percentage of starter homes. Then part way through the build they return to councils saying that they can't afford to build the agreed number of small houses and are often given leave to reduce this number.

Why do you say they are a lot less profitable? They are smaller and take up less land, Land is the largest single component of build cost. Much of my career was spent working for national house builders so I do know something about this. I think you are getting confused with affordable housing Gangy - something entirely different,

gangy5

Looking through other posts I have seen that you are in Australia. Big builders here in GB seem to be making good profits. I would be happy to see some fail here. The majority doing the hard work of labouring are employed unfairly with no benefits at all. Gone are the days when builders employed their own staff. The work is now taken on by contractors who supply the labour.
For this reason I would like to see some companies fail here.

This has been the case for decades. If you want to see builders fail then you want to see contractors and subcontractors fail too. Many hard working people out of work. There are good reasons why bigger builders don’t employ their own workforce, but agree a price with a contractor who may sub out parts of the job. Judging by your JR thread, you obviously have a grievance.

I think you only think they are 4 beds as they don’t seem to advertise the smaller homes as much, maybe because there is more demand? and some will be put aside for shared ownership and association/affordable housing (which really isn’t that much cheaper but of course it’s secure)

JaneJudge

I think you only think they are 4 beds as they don’t seem to advertise the smaller homes as much, maybe because there is more demand? and some will be put aside for shared ownership and association/affordable housing (which really isn’t that much cheaper but of course it’s secure)

Yes, they don't get planning permission for new estates without including some affordable/social housing.

It was interesting to see that a new estate not far from here has included low rise housing for less able people.

When the bottom fell out of the house building market in, I think the 90’s the knock on effects were massive.
Not only the major and smaller construction companies suffered - flooring, lighting, garden landscaping, furniture and soft furnishing manufacturers/sellers failed, support departments within the industry were” let go “ - internal audit for instance and of course office and sales staff . Tradesmen were also laid off and while you might argue that a plumber or chippy can set up on his own, it’s not as easy as that.
Somehow the developers are usually the last to get their fingers burned though!

Some very large builders nearly collapsed in the recession of 2008, the majority have recovered. What’s been hitting them in the last couple of years is the availability and cost of materials. Looking at the share prices and results, most are doing ok.

I wasn't aware of this, nanna8 but just checked and yes, they seem to be collapsing alarmingly in Australia. Blaming the effects of Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, apparently but I'm sure that can't be the whole truth. It sounds like a get-out clause.

Yes- I don’t quite see the connection between the Ukraine and builders. They are blaming the cost of materials and the high wages for builders. Certainly plumbers, electricians etc get very big wages here but ,personally,I think they deserve it more than politicians, footballers etc.

I know I’m thick but is a low rise home otherwise known as a bungalow?

midgey

I know I’m thick but is a low rise home otherwise known as a bungalow?

Except in Australia or New Zealand where they are called houses.

Calling someone's lovely bungalow a bungalow, as I did, is quite insulting in New Zealand. 😲