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The purpose of the paper is to assess the critical financial and economic issues associated with the provision of adequate housing in the UK in the face of current and future demographic change.

The review is based on an investigation of the current state of preparedness of the housing market and its various stakeholders based on recent reports and secondary statistical evidence.

The findings emphasise the need for a multi-faceted approach to tackle the challenges that need to be addressed. Unless measures are initiated to influence the market, the requisite increase in the stock of appropriate housing in the face of rapid demographic change will not occur.

The value of the study is that it identifies the issues based on the current state of provision and makes recommendations for meeting the challenges arising from these issues. These recommendations have strong implications for policymakers and other stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of investment in built assets in the achievement of economic growth as part of a wealth measurement approach and to undertake an analysis of the relative importance of such investment as part of a country’s overall capital asset portfolio.

Panel data on capital asset investment are used to compare groups of countries at different stages of development. Data sets on investment and capital levels from the Penn World Tables 9.0 are used. Population and gross domestic product data are taken from the same source and the UN Statistics Division. World Bank reports provide data on countries’ income group classification.

There is confirmation of the view that, as economies grow, a pattern of investment based on developing a different structure of capital asset portfolio occurs. Investment patterns similar to those found in advanced countries arise as low income countries move to higher income classification groups even though built assets remain the most valuable capital asset group.

The study provides time series evidence on the nature of changing capital investment patterns in countries’ economies and demonstrates the value of a wealth measurement approach.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and explain how organizations in the construction sector can enhance their decision-making process (DMP) by practising knowledge management (KM) and business process management (BPM) activities. A conceptual framework is developed that recognises the elements that impact DMP in terms of KM and BPM. The development of this framework goes beyond current empirical work on KM in addition to BPM as it investigates a wider variety of variables that impact DMP.

A case study is undertaken in the context of the construction industry in Jordan. A theoretical framework is developed and assessment of the proposed framework was undertaken through a questionnaire survey of decision-makers in the construction sector and expert interviews.

The outcomes of this research provide several contributions to aid decision-makers in construction organizations. Growth in the usage of KM and BPM, in addition to the integration between them, can provide employees with task-related knowledge in the organization’s operative business processes, improve process performance, promote core competence and maximise and optimise business performance.

Through the production of a framework, this study provides a tool to enable improved decision-making. The framework generates a strong operational as well as theoretical approach to the organizational utilization of knowledge and business processes.

The study was designed to assess the attitudes, strategic readiness and drivers and barriers to the adoption of sustainable retrofit within the UK social housing sector.

The study was undertaken using a structured questionnaire that was completed by 130 providers of social housing.

The study showed that social housing providers were aware of the sustainable retrofit agenda, but with varying levels of strategic readiness. Immediate benefits to residents were seen as important drivers, as opposed to more remote issues such as climate change. The emerging nature of the sustainable retrofit market was seen as a major potential risk for residents.

The study represents a snap-shot of adoption and effectiveness issues, therefore does not show the trajectory of adoption which should be addressed in a follow-up study.

The social housing sector has been viewed as a market maker for the sustainable retrofit market. The study shows the attitudes of the sector to this role.

The study has implications for the understanding social housing providers’ engagement with the sustainable retrofit market to address fuel poverty and climate change. Social housing's role as market maker has implications for policies such as Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation.

The study covers approximately 20 per cent of the social housing stock under management and gives a robust perspective of current views on adoption and effectiveness of retrofit technologies within the social housing sector. This is useful for both other social housing providers and policy makers.

The study was designed to assess the knowledge, adoption and perceived effectiveness of sustainable retrofit technologies within the UK social housing sector.

The study was undertaken using a structured questionnaire that was completed by 130 providers of social housing.

The study showed that social housing providers were evenly split in their reliance on internal or external information for sustainable retrofit knowledge. In terms of adoption identified that this was strongly driven by government‐funded programmes, leading to widespread adoption of low technology solutions. The respondents identified that many leading edge technologies were perceived to be less effective.

The study represents a snap‐shot of adoption and effectiveness issues, therefore does not show the trajectory of adoption which should be addressed in a follow‐up study.

The social housing sector has been viewed as a market maker for some of the newer technologies. It indicates that some of the newer technologies, such as heat pumps are viewed as less effective than more established technologies.

The study has implications for the adoption of technology to address fuel poverty and climate change, as well as informing future policy such as Green Deal.

The study includes 130 responses from the social housing stock and gives a perspective of current views on adoption and effectiveness of retrofit technologies within the social housing sector. This is useful for both other social housing providers and policy makers.

This study aims at identifying the consequences of adopting statutory rather than market basis in assessing damages due to contamination to land. Most valuations undertaken to assess compensation for damages due to contamination on land are done with valuation methods prescribed by law for the compulsory acquisition of land.

A total of 80 registered valuation firms with experience in both compulsory acquisition and damage assessment participated in a questionnaire survey to ascertain the methods adopted in valuing when determining the compensation payable as damages due to land contamination and the need for a framework for such valuations, in addition to some archival documents relating to the relevant laws and some purposively selected valuation reports, which were reviewed.

The results of the analysis indicate that the use of compulsory acquisition valuation methods results in inadequate damages, which engenders conflicts among the stakeholders. The absence of any framework for damage assessment is responsible for the current practice in the Niger Delta, and it is recommended that international best practices utilising market basis of valuation be adopted.

Most valuation methods available are useful for valuing commercial properties regularly traded in the market and not applicable to the Niger Delta, which is mostly rural with very few market transactions. It is expected that this study will enable oil and gas industry operators, professional valuers advising the land owners or operators in the industry and the government to differentiate compensation paid for compulsory acquisition and compensation required to placate those suffering losses due to contamination.

The findings will assist professional valuers to be more professional in valuing contaminated land devastated by oil spills.

Adopting the findings will engender a greater acceptability of the results of valuations undertaken in the wake of an oil spillage disaster and ensure a peaceful environment for the oil operators and the entire populace.

The findings of this study are expected to assist policymakers in emerging economies and professional valuers acting in these environments to avoid precipitating crises by adopting inappropriate valuation techniques when assessing damages due to contamination. This study is original and has not been published elsewhere.

The purpose of this study is to identify the essential elements required for innovation in the construction industry. To this end, the authors assessed the innovation at three levels: the firm growth account level, the firm behaviour level and the level of the firm’s experts. The factors influencing innovation at each level were identified and synthesised into guiding strategies for innovation.

Three methods were combined to develop a mode of thinking for innovation. First, at the semi-macro level, the authors identified the factors that influence the total factor productivity (TFP) by regressing the TFP across firms of the construction industry on a variety of extrinsic factors. Second, at the firm level, the authors extracted actual innovative firms from a large amount of public procurement individual data. The authors analysed the behaviours of these innovative firms. Third, the authors conducted a survey of expert-level personnel. In addition, a text analysis was performed to determine what was perceived by experts as a factor that leads to innovation.

The authors analysed the TFP, the behaviour of innovative firms and the perception issues between industry experts and stakeholders regarding innovation. As a result, two factors were identified. The first factor was the expectation of a positive solution to the problem through monopoly profits, future benefits and increased efficiency. The second factor was peer pressure from other organisations of a similar nature, peer pressure from users and technical information, as well as competitive conditions, e.g. recent environmental growth, including relevant innovations.

In the context of innovation, static and dynamic thinking were important requirements. Static concepts were based on the accumulation of knowledge, such as patents and technological progress. Dynamic thinking involved a future outlook, including a competitive environment as a necessary condition. Actual technological innovation was driven by incentives and expectations.

According to the results of this study, the authors make the following recommendations for enhancing the construction-industry innovation in Japan: do not rely on a patent policy to drive innovation, create an environment that encourages competition and develop an ongoing initiative that encourages and rewards innovation.

This study was novel, in that the nature of innovation was investigated at three levels: the TFP, firm behaviour and expert perceptions. The identification and extraction of the two resulting points – statically necessary and dynamically necessary elements – was a significant contribution of the study.