Welcome to the Editorial section of our blog which focuses on issues affecting the UK housebuilding industry, and specifically how they impact on the new homes job market. We try to provide useful articles that will help you with your job search or find the talent to strengthen your residential development business. We also conduct research into trends in the UK housing job market and publish the resulting data and conclusions.
The Problem For Housebuilding Sales Directors – Sales Negotiators
Simon Edbury of our sister company www.edburydaley.com recently wrote an interesting article on the challenges facing housebuilding companies as they seek to strengthen their sales force.
You can read his analysis of the housebuilding sales market here.
http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/2013/03/25/the-problem-for-housebuilding-sales-directors-sales-negotiators/
Posted in Editorial, News
Tagged building, buyers guide, construction, housebuilding, housing, jobs, new homes, recruit, recruitment, residential, UK
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The Times Article On Graduate Careers In Housebuilding
Careers in Housebuilding has been going from strength to strength in 2013. Since the beginning of the year ten different housebuilders have advertised vacancies from administrative and trades positions through to Regional Managing Director and Heads of Department.
When The Times were looking for a expert opinion on graduate recruitment in the housebuilding industry they came to us. Our number one position in the Google rankings and 17 years experience of recruiting in the sector make us easy to find and a trusted source of housebuilding opinion.
The full article is available to download in PDF version here.
If you are are looking for assistance in recruiting for your team or furthering your career we can help. Please contact Simon Edbury on 07946 577145
Posted in Editorial, News
Tagged building, careers, construction, housebuilding, housing, jobs, new homes, recruit, recruitment, residential, UK
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Number One Ranked On Google Searches..
Careers in Housebuilding is now more than two and half years old and is established as the best place for residential developers to advertise vacancies at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising or generalist job boards. This is demonstrated by the following figures:
- We are the number one ranked on Google searches for several key phrases including “house building jobs” and “careers house building.”
- There have been over 20,000 visits to the site already this year
- Over 11,000 visitors have come from Google searches alone
- More than 1100 experienced housing professionals have come directly from our association with www.house-builder.co.uk
- Social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and Linked In produced over 1500 visitors.
We are still the only website dedicated solely to jobs in the housebuilding sector advertised directly by the builders themselves. There are no recruitment consultancies on www.careersinhousebuilding.co.uk
For information about our prices please contact Simon Edbury on 0161 776 4604 or via info@careersinhousebuilding.co.uk
Please note that all statistics accurate on 31.7.12
Posted in Editorial, News
Tagged building, buyers guide, careers, construction, development, housebuilding, housing, jobs, new homes, recruitment, residential, UK
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Housebuilders Buck Trend – July 2012
ONS figures this week confirm the UK is suffering a double dip recession as the UK economy contracts for a third consecutive quarter. Yet, July has seen exclusively positive stories from housebuilders. Bovis have improved sales by 24%, Gladedale announced a 35% increase in residential turnover, and Galliford Try hit a record number of completions after a 40% annual improvement.
There is no doubt that housebuilders are opening new outlets to sustain the increase in sales on a regular basis and this has driven the demand for sales negotiators and sales managers which has been evidenced by job posting on www.careersinhousebuilding.co.uk
So where has the increased demand come from? My industry contacts tell me there is some flexibility in the much maligned mortgage market. Whilst the very best mortgage rates are only available to buyers with big deposits there are more products around for those with 10% or less therefore increasing the potential customer base.
The government schemes such as First Buy and now New Buy have done much to prop up housebuilder sales figures but don’t really account for the significant improvements over the past twelve months. Perhaps the current state of the economy is perceived as the new normal. In other words house buyers are tired of waiting for better mortgage deals, or a better price for the home they are selling and simply accepted it is time to move house. Maybe the fear factor of mass redundancies is fading. Despite the negative growth and high inflation the UK employment figures have held up surprisingly well in recent times, so house buyers are not so fearful about being unable to repay the mortgage.
Whether it is any or all of these factors, there is no doubt that the housebuilding industry is recovering from the depths of the 2008 to 2010 period. There is a still a long way to go but there are solid reasons to be cheerful.
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Housebuilding News 20th Feb 2012
Some interesting developments in the past week have emerged with regards to the governments new mortgage scheme, which allows buyers to put down a deposit of just 5% on a new home. More information on the scheme has only really emerged in drips and drabs, and it has now acquired the name NewBuy. It is anticipated that the full details will be announced in early March, but it is expected to be a great help to those both first time buyers and buyers further up the property ladder, who are looking to secure their first home.
Last week was marked by more figures from leading organisation monitoring the economy and it’s effect on housing and housebuilding. And, like many weeks before it, it has been a week of unexpected twists. The Council of Mortgage Lenders stated that lending was up on a year ago- Gross mortgage lending stood at £10.5bn in January, down 12% on December but up 10% on January 2011. However, like most economic news in the industry at present, one must take into account the particularly unpredictable macroeconomic trends at present. Still, the general mood amongst people involved in the industry is that any positive news is a good foundation upon which further growth can be built.
However the topsy-turvey nature of the current economic climate was strongly highlighted today with the collapse of Glasgow construction firm Donaghy. The Scottish construction firm was working on a number of major projects when it called in administrators KPMG. 175 jobs have reportedly been lost, although a skeleton staff of 10 has been kept on to monitor the winding up of the business. Whether or not business casualties like this are a result of weaker competitors being weeded out of the industry, or a symptom of the long term ill-health of the industry remains to be seen, as many of the larger firms remain in rude financial health.
Posted in News
Tagged building, careers, construction, housebuilding, housing, new homes, recruit, recruitment, residential, UK
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Housebuilding News – 14th February 2012
Good news coming out of housebuilder Bellway this month stating that visitor levels to their sites are up by 20% In a trading on Tuesday, Bellway said it sold 2,455 homes in the six months to January 31 2012, compared to 2,332 in the same period a year ago. The firm expects operating margin to hit double digits. Sustainable growth- and critically- sustainable growth outside of London is key to generating recovery out of the current slump. This not being the only good news business story this week with Northern Ireland property business May Estates reporting a return to profit after a difficult few months.
In a related development- debate has been raging about the appropriateness of comments by certain government ministers this week regarding retirees taking up work in their 70s. There are an estimated 25 million empty bedrooms in this country- many believed to be in houses of older people who’s children have flown the nest. This again raises questions at that awkward juncture between the personal right to privacy and your own home, and the collective right of providing enough homes for everyone.
On another angle a not often discussed aspect of housebuilding was under scrutiny this week. Houses and housebuilding in the UK are responsible for about 20% of the UK’s carbon emissions, and ever-increasingly contentious topic at the moment. Discussions have been occurring on how Housing will fit into the Green Deal currently being debated in government. It is vitally important that the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s future programme offers the necessary incentives for homeowners and future housebuilders to reduce their carbon emissions.
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Tagged building, buyers guide, construction, housebuilding, housing, new homes, residential, UK
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Housebuilding News 6th February 2012
House prices figures for January are starting to be released by all of the major usual sources. Today, focusing on Halifax’s figures, it is interesting to note that they have recorded a small increase of 0.6% but at the same time Halifax reports that this is actually the same average value as a house in mid 2011. Showcasing a different viewpoint, Nationwide have stated that prices actually fell 0.2% in January. Perhaps, a stabilisation in the way house price fluctuations are recorded would be an important first step forward to addressing the current difficulties in the market.
Other news from Scotland this week, new laws have come in to place in to ease restrictions on homeowners making improvements to their own homes. Projects like extensions, sheds and garages will no longer require planning permission. The move is expected to inspire a flurry of activity, as the de-regulation will increase the speed and decrease the costs of improvements. This in turn allows homeowners to build real value in their properties which is going to be helpful for the housing markets prospects in the long run. Depending on how well this is received it’s possible that such regulations may come to be rolled out nationwide.
In other breaking news this morning, Richard Viner the chief executive of major construction firm, Shepherd Construction, has announced his resignation, being the third chief executive to do so at the troubled firm since 2008. Stability in a company from top to bottom is absolutely key if recovery is to be maintained, and these incidents do not do much for consumer confidence.
