Harry Smith

Not the most illuminating Budget, but at least Philip Hammond had a new joke writer. I actually chuckled at one of them, when I usually just want the ground to swallow me up. Gone are the days of George Osborne promising to “study the viability” of x, y or z. Hammond is heavy on detail … Read more

House price growth is slowing which could have an impact on the speed of housing construction… Reading over the latest output figures from the Office for National Statistics it appears that construction continues to perform strongly in the first quarter of 2017. The industry grew by 0.2% in Q1 compared with the final quarter of … Read more

Private housebuilding is the fastest growing sector in construction but major investment is needed to solve the housing crisis… The long-awaited housing white paper was recently released and anyone hoping for a silver bullet remedy to the “housing crisis” was to be disappointed. I am being slightly facetious when I say that, since no single … Read more

Construction continues to be robust in the wake of the various economic shocks that occurred in the second half of the year. An industry that tends to be pro-cyclical and behaves in a similar manner to the wider economy remains stoically resilient. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, while construction … Read more

In contrast to the previous chancellor, Philip Hammond has ditched grandiose announcements and made some specific investment proposals that could make a real difference Today’s Autumn Statement was notable for its change in purpose from the previous chancellor. In recent times, the focus was on eradicating the deficit which was originally scheduled to happen in … Read more

The fall in the value of the pound is the most tangible effect of the outcome of the EU referendum If the party conference season is anything to go by, it looks like we are heading for a “hard Brexit”, which conjures up images of watery porridge and stale toast as opposed to the “soft … Read more

The reality is that, for now, nothing has changed in the UK economy Waiting for the Brexit effect is like waiting for the rapture. Some think it has already happened, some believe it is on its way and others think it is a fictitious phenomenon not substantiated by evidence. Whatever your viewpoint, at the moment, … Read more