http://www.claybrick.org.za/ Our mission is to develop and grow competitive awareness, knowledge and supportof clay masonry and maintaining consistent standards in the use of Clay Brick and paversfor good value and performance in the construction of buildings and paving surfaces.Website Designed & Developed by InterComm South Africa en-gb CLAYBRICK FOR GOODRepresenting the interests of the claybrick segment of the walling marketone of the four major building product groupswww.claybrick.org.zaP O Box 1284 Halfway House 1685Tel: (011) 805-4206 :: Fax: (011) 315-3988 Webmaster - marnie@nospam.com marnie@nospam.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:57:20 +0200 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:57:20 +0200 http://backend.userland.com/rss e107 (http://e107.org) 60 Search claybrick.org query http://www.claybrick.org.za/search.php http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.157 Technical Publications Corobrik<noauthor@nospam.com> Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:18:41 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.157 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.156 enlightening and will probably not be a surprise to our subscribers.

It pursues a question that was repeatedly posed at our recent Strategic Forums - did we experience a property bubble and was it influenced and funded by debt?

There is general agreement that we did not remotely experience a property bubble in South Africa, although other Countries did (notably the USA, UK and Ireland). The reasons for this can be found beyond ordinary mortgages in the arena of securitization (of sub-prime mortgages), derivatives, Credit
Default Swaps (CDS's) and Credit Default Obligations (CDO'S) - basically driven by greed (see Michael Lewis' book: The Big Short: 2010).

There is also agreement that Home Ownership is funded by Mortgages which are traditionally classified as debt - therefore the continuous harping on Household Indebtedness and Disposable Household Income (with mortgages the main scapegoat because it comprises some 60% of total indebtedness).

The research confirms our contention that the Banks hold an inordinate amount of power and influence over the fortunes of the building and property industry. They play in every quadrant of the Stakeholder matrix and they make the rules of the game that all other Stakeholders must play to. All the debate about household indebtedness is used as justification for the strict lending criteria. The easy target to lower the indebtedness is to curtail mortgage advances, to make it increasingly difficult for households to purchase a home. And this is the strategy followed by Banks everywhere. And
this of course fundamentally impacts the property market and the building industry.

The home is the single biggest investment made by households in their lifetime - and also the best way for ordinary households to build wealth. The only serious money most people will make in their lifetime is on the capital appreciation of their homes. People have to live somewhere and it is extremely rare for individual households to have sufficient savings to purchase a home without a mortgage. Even the current required deposit of between 10% and 20% is beyond the means of the majority of households. But it is common cause that households expect and are willing to pay (even
sacrificially) up to 30% of the household income for the privilege of owning their own homes and not to be obligated to a Landlord. The argument that it is better to rent than to buy is fallacious because it ignores the fact that there isn't sufficient rental stock and buy-to-let investments are subject
to even stricter lending criteria and has basically ground to a halt.

It also ignores the fact that Home Ownership is an investment (not a debt like a motorcar) and the repayments are really a forced saving. In theory if everyone became renters then household debt will be reduced substantially and will be limited to the very lucrative debts (for the Banks) of motor
vehicles and credit cards. And the world will be very much the poorer for it.

The fact is that the Building Industry will not recover until the Banks relax their strict lending criteria - or alternative Investment models are found.

See the presentation by the writer to the July Strategic Forum on The Art of
Quantum Planning applied to the Building Industry - posted on our website
under Quarterly Reports.

Dr.Llewellyn B Lewis,
]]> Legislation Dr Llewellyn Lewis<noauthor@nospam.com> Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:12:58 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.156 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.140
At this point it is evident that there is an improving trend in both BPP and BC, at least as far as CURRENT VALUES are concerned, which of course includes the effect of inflation. It is similar, although not as pronounced in real (m2 or numbers) terms .

The improving trends are exhibited by both the Residential and the Non Residential sectors (and of course Total Building). However, it is one thing to observe an improving trend in the deviation based on comparison of cumulative actual for 2010 versus 2009, but a substantial amount of ground lost in the first 5 months of 2010 (in fact some R3,8 Billion) will have to be made up in the next 7 months in order to end up at the same level as 2009. Even so this would of course imply that BPP and BC for 2010 will be below 2009 in real terms. And it must be remembered that BPP and BC represent only about 30% of total Building Activity. The Public Sector Building, Affordable Housing and Unrecorded Additions and Alterations are not accounted for in the BPP and BC numbers.

The Investment by the Public Sector can only be monitored through the Quarterly data on GFCF in Residential, Non Residential and Construction published by the SARB

According to this analysis GFCF for Residential increased by 0,77% for Cumulative Q1 2010 versus 2009 (in Current value). The GFCF for Non Residential increased by 1,11% for Cumulative Q1 2010 versus 2009 (in current terms); and therefore the GFCF for Total Building for Cumulative Q1 2010 versus 2009 increased by 2,93% (in current terms).

It can also be seen that GFCF for Construction Works increased by 18,1% in cumulative Q1 2010 versus 2009.

The Short and Medium term Dashboards are also available on this website.

Dr.Llewellyn B Lewis]]> For Members Dr Llewellyn Lewis<BMI Building Research Strategy Consulting Unit CC@nospam.com> Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:46:42 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.140 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.155 For Members Dr Llewellyn Lewis<noauthor@nospam.com> Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:16:54 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.155 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.154 For Members Dr Llewellyn Lewis<noauthor@nospam.com> Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:15:51 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.154 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.153
This one page leaflet provides brick terminology and specifications - Landscape Format.]]> Advertising Material Jacqui Duarte<Trademark Communications@nospam.com> Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:51:24 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.153 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.12
This one page leaflet provides brick terminology and specifications - Landscape Format.]]> Advertising Material Clay Brick Association<Clay Brick Association@nospam.com> Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:51:18 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.12 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.152 For Members Dr Llewellyn Lewis<BMI Building Research Strategy Consulting@nospam.com> Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:33:29 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.152 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.150 suffer from time to time from staining, due to general trafficking and contamination from other
sources.

Due to the nature of construction, there may also be some vegetation growing in the joints, or on the paving themselves in shaded areas or areas subject to long periods of dampness. As for any other surfacing material regular maintenance and good cleaning practice will enhance the overall appearance of the paving.

This document deals with:

Initial maintenance - flexibly laid clay pavers
General dirt and detritus
Moss, lichens and algae
Rust stains
Oil stains
Bitumen stains
Graffiti and paint stains
Smoke, fire and tobacco stains
Beverage stains
Chewing gum
Scuff marks from vehicle tyres
Efflorescence on clay pavers (white marks)
Cement staining
Lime staining
Iron staining
Manganese staining
Mechanical Cleaning]]> Technical Publications Brick Development Association AU<noauthor@nospam.com> Thu, 13 May 2010 11:40:18 +0200 http://www.claybrick.org.za/download.php?view.150