An Essex joinery firm has been fined for safety failings after an employee was crushed by half a tonne of fibreboard (MDF) at its premises in Basildon.

Balfour Beatty has recruited four new managers to the top of its UK and Ireland construction team.

Southampton Football Club’s St Mary’s stadium is set to be the first in Europe to have LED floodlights.

The National Audit Office (NAO) is putting the squeeze on the government for awarding £16.6bn of energy contracts without competition.

The Scottish government has set out plans for an additional £220m for building schools and hospitals.

Manchester City Football Club has released a video that shows the construction sequence for a new tier on the South Stand of its Etihad stadium.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has set out how three government initiatives will further help to boost house-building.

Six major construction contractors last year shared between them £2.2bn of taxpayers’ money, a new analysis has shown.

Middlesbrough Football Club has selected WSP as its preferred consultant for structural engineering works at is Riverside Stadium and training ground.

East London has replaced location in the West as the most desirable place to live in the Capital, with rents in the trendy borough of Hackney becoming a new hotspot, it is claimed.

Rents in Hackney and Tower Hamlets have now reached similar levels to traditionally popular property hotspots such as Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth, according to new data from property firm Move with Us.

The firm’s latest rental index shows that the average advertised rent in Hackney is now £2,125 per month, an increase of 9.15% from the same time last year. This is not far off the £2,195 and £2,105 per month recorded in Richmond and Wandsworth.

According to the index report Hackney has seen a steady influx of young professionals who work in the city, a trendy crowd attracted to the vibrant environment. It has experienced a revival in recent years with new shops, eateries and art galleries opening.

The borough of Tower Hamlets has also seen significant rent rises in the past 12 months with the average asking rent now standing at £2,208 per month, up 8% from this time last year.

The proximity of these East London Boroughs to the City and Canary Wharf has been a magnet for commuters. This is particularly due to their convenient rail links to Liverpool Street station from London Fields and the improvement of the London Overground which reaches Dalston Junction.

However, average asking rents in Richmond upon Thames fell by 3.47% to £2,195 per month. Despite younger renters moving to the East of London, Richmond is still a favourite for families with its top-performing schools, bigger houses and open green spaces.

‘There has been a reversal of fortunes in London with new trendy neighbourhoods in the East becoming the new popular places to rent in the Capital. In particular the fashionable boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlet have experienced a property revival in recent years, attracting a growing number of young people looking to rent,’ said Robin King, director at Move with Us.

‘New developments, property conversions, shops and a dynamic art scene together with their proximity to commuter destinations of the City and Canary Wharf have put these neighbourhoods on the map as some of the most appealing places to live in London,’ he explained.

We expect rents in the East of London to continue catching up with the boroughs in the West which have been conventionally popular with families, as more and more people shift to the up and coming areas of Tower Hamlets and the ultra-trendy Hackney,’ he added.

Anthony Cornwell, 24, a PR executive, is moving to Stratford within the next few weeks. He was attracted by the area’s transport connections and its green spaces. ‘I’ve got a lot of friends in the East already. The area continues to undergo regeneration as part of the Olympic legacy, with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park open to the public and hosting gigs and festivals,’ he said.

‘Victoria Park is home to Lovebox music festival and the…

A surge in supply and fall in the number of new buyers in the London property market is putting the brakes on the city’s residential real estate growth.

The latest monthly housing market monitor from national estate agent firm haart shows that London has seen supply increase by 9.5% in May compared with April and by 7.2% year on year.

But the number of new buyers coming to the London market fell by 6.1% in May and is down 2.6% year on year.
Nationally new property instructions are up strongly on the month by 6.3% and the number of first time buyers had increased by 11.2% annually.

Overall the average UK is now priced at £200,707, unchanged from the previous month and up 9.2% since May 2013. While in London prices are down 0.8% month on month but up 22.9% year on year.

‘At last stock is coming to the market with new homes for sale in London surging 9.5% on month in May and 7.5% annually. Sellers are now keen to capitalise on recent house price rises and lock into continuing low interest rate mortgages,’ said Paul Smith, chief executive officer of haart.

‘This is a significant factor in freeing up the 18 month log jam of supply. Buyers and sellers across the board will benefit and encourage fluidity in all price brackets. The UK as a whole has also seen a 6.3% monthly surge in new property instructions,’ he pointed out.

‘Our analysis shows the effect on property prices to be relatively steady with no discernible change in UK property prices on the month. We are now starting to see the market self correct rather than rapidly deflate. Annual price growth remains strong, but let’s not forget that regional property prices are still below their peak 2007 levels,’ he explained.

‘The appetite to buy remains high with the volume of new buyer registrations across the UK up 3.8% annually with first time buyer registrations up 11.2%. If there is more rumour and conjecture over interest rates and a fall-out from MMR demand levels could be dampened,’ he added.

The index data also shows that the average first time buyer property price is now £155,574 up slightly by 1% on the month and up 4.2% annually. The annual increase in first time buyer numbers continues to drive up the average price.

The number of new buyers coming to the market is up 3.8% annually but has dipped 3.2% on the month. The reason for these slightly suppressed figures could be uncertainty over next year’s general election and when interest rates will be rising, the report says.

The number of new properties for sale has surged 6.3% on the month and is up marginally by 0.1% on last year. This is a sign that confidence to sell is creeping back to the market which will loosen up the log jam at all levels of the property ladder.

The number of property sales is up 12.3% annually…

All eyes may be on the football in Brazil but the country’s real estate market is also proving to be of interest to overseas buyers looking for a real estate investment

According to a new analysis from real estate firm Savills, Brazil’s property market, compared to some of the other fast growing emerging economies, does not yet look overheated.

According to Paul Tostevin, associate director for world research at international real estate firm Savills, commercial yields currently stand at 8.5% and residential yields are at 5.1%.

He pointed out that the high profile sporting events are helping to raise Rio’s international profile. ‘It is no surprise that Brazilians are returning to Rio in large numbers. The city is now growing at a faster rate than São Paulo. The rate of annual house price growth in Rio de Janeiro peaked at 40% in 2010, slowing to 15% in 2013,’ he said.

‘This is much more in line with underlying occupier demand, matching rates of growth in rents. However, mortgaged indebtedness is low and credit control is strong, so the prospects for a substantial downward price correction seem relatively remote in the current climate of growing wealth creation,’ he explained.

He added that while São Paulo is now Brazil’s financial capital, Rio de Janeiro still boasts a major financial district. Several multinational corporations are based there, a legacy of the city’s days as the country’s capital.

Rio is also home to a significant number of oil and gas companies, as well as telecommunications, entertainment and media organisations. Office rents appreciated rapidly between 2010 and 2011, growing ?by 37% in a single year, although they have since fallen by 14%.

But there are signs that the property market growth is slowing in some locations. According to the latest edition of the Global Property Guide house prices in Sao Paulo increased by 6.71% year on year in the first quarter of 2014, the slowest growth in the past six years. On a quarterly basis, house prices in Sao Paulo dropped by 0.12%.

One firm, Luxury Estate, says that Rio de Janeiro is the most popular place for overseas buyers followed by Sao Paulo. Those seeking an investment are betting on the considerable infrastructure that has been put in for the World Cup and for the Olympic Games in 2016 will make real estate capital growth promising.

While 70% of buyers are from Brazil there is an increasing number of buyers from overseas investing in property, mostly apartments. An analysis of the 250,000 searches conducted on its website from the beginning of the year until the end of May found 7% were Americans, 6% French, 5% Italian, 4% Germans, 3% Spanish, 2% from Portugal, 2% from the UK and 1% from Russia.

As the supply of homes for sale in the UK remains low, one in five buyers are paying more than the asking price to secure their dream property, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

The NAEA’s May Housing Market Report shows that the supply of houses for sale has dropped by 27% since this time last year, to 44 properties available per NAEA registered branch, meaning buyers have been forced to increase their asking price to beat off competition and secure their property.

Some 19% of properties sold for more than the asking price in May, nearly three times the 7% recorded when NAEA first collected this data in September 2013.

The data also shows that 46% of sellers accepted lower than asking price, the smallest percentage ever recorded since the data was collected in September 2013, when 71% of sellers accepted below asking price.

With this necessity to pay more, NAEA member agents also reported an increase in the average number of sales agreed per branch, up from nine last month to 10 in May. The average number of house hunters registering with NAEA agents dropped slightly in May to 374 down from an average of 392 house hunters in April.

High property prices are also affecting the first time buyer market, as those with limited budgets are struggling with high prices. The proportion of first time buyers purchasing a home in May shrank to 25%, down from 28% in April.

‘The number of house hunters is substantially higher than the number of properties on the market, so competition is always going to be rife. Unfortunately the lack of housing problem is not going to go away anytime soon,’ said Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents.

‘We have seen a shortage in the number of new builds in the last five or so years, and those who are currently in a property and looking to move may be put off by the cost of stamp duty. With limited numbers of houses for sale, unfortunately it means that those who simply can’t afford to increase their original offer will often be priced out the market,’ he explained.

‘With current speculation of the interest rate rising, we could see more home owners putting their houses on the market in a panic that house prices may reduce as a result of interest rate and mortgage rate hikes. However the new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules may create mortgage prisoners who cannot gain new mortgages for house moves, resulting in a slowdown of house sales and this coupled with recent sharp rises in house prices could start to take some of the strongest heat out of the property market,’ he added.

The report also found that in May, semidetached homes remained the most popular choice for buyers with 37% of house hunters seeking this type of property, more than…

Average residential rent across England and Wales increases by 0.6% between April and May but despite this monthly change the annual rise of 1.1% is below inflation for the twelfth month in a row.

The data from the latest LSL Property Services index also shows that London rents are now rising at only 1% per year, after heavy investment by landlords in the capital.

In absolute terms, the average rent in England and Wales has risen by £8 in the last 12 months, currently standing at £745 per month, compared to £737 in May 2013.

‘Private renting is becoming cheaper in real terms. May’s latest sub-inflation rent rises will help over nine million tenants. To put that in context, this is more than a hundred times as many households as have benefitted from Help to Buy in its initial stages so far,’ explained David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services.

‘These trends put the recent politicisation of the rental market in stark contrast to reality. Rents are not a single pound higher than they were in December yet over the same six months some politicians have portrayed the industry as facing some sort of crisis,’ he said.

‘A squeeze on living standards may well be the biggest challenge of our age. But rents are not the cause. In fact the greatest risk to today’s below inflation rent rises is that political posturing could deter some landlords from the market. Rather than conjuring up a storm, politicians should be working constructively to ensure there are even more homes available to let,’ he added.

The data shows that overall rents in seven out of 10 regions are higher than a year ago. The fastest annual increase is in the South West, where the average monthly rent is now 3.9% higher than in May 2013. This is followed by a 3.8% annual increase in the East Midlands and annual rent rises of 2.3% in the North West.

By contrast, both London and the South East have seen annual rent rises below the overall average. In the South East annual rent rises now stand at just 1.2%, while rents in the capital are now only 1% higher than in May 2013. This puts London sixth in terms of rent rises by region, and represents a significant slowdown since early 2013 when rent rises in the UK capital peaked at 7.9% per year.

In three regions rents have dropped over the last 12 months. This was led by the North East with a 3.6% fall, followed by an annual fall of 2.3% for rents in the East of England, while rents are now 0.4% lower than a year ago in the West Midlands.

On a monthly basis eight out of 10 regions have seen rents rise since April. The fastest month on month increases are in the West and East Midlands, with rents in these regions respectively 1.2% and 1% higher than in the previous month.
Only two regions have seen lower rents…

London’s rocketing rental market should be treated separately to the rest of the UK and the government should recognise this when formulating policy, it is claimed.

According to lettings agents Belvoir, which has offices across the country, reports of massive rental increases are over exaggerated when it comes to most locations.

It latest rental index covering the first three months of the year shows that the market has remained steady in most regions and some have not yet recovered to 2008 levels.

‘Although rents in Yorkshire are now recovering to pre-recession levels, only rents in the South East, South West, West Midlands and London are exceeding the heights achieved in 2008 and it is the London market that has seen the biggest increase,’ said Dorian Gonsalves, Belvoir’s director of Commercial and Franchising.

‘In recent months there have been reports of some private London landlords doubling rents, but Belvoir’s analysis of advertised rents in regions across the rest of the UK reveal that the majority of landlords have seen no rental increases in recent years,’ said.

He pointed out that the index shows that a total of 14 counties, which include Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Dorset have yet to recover to 2008 levels.

‘Seeking to introduce blanket rental increase caps across the entire UK, combined with other proposed government policies such as the banning of tenancy fees, and introducing statutory long term tenancy agreements is likely to have a huge negative impact on the majority of landlords, who may well be forced to sell up,’ he explained.

‘This will then further reduce the stock of good quality rental properties available to tenants in less wealthy parts of the country where the lettings market is of such vital importance. It will also leave tenants vulnerable to those rogue landlords that the government seeks to protect them against,’ he added.

He called for the government to work with reputable agents such as Belvoir, as well as other industry bodies, to help develop policies that will address the massive divide between rents achieved in London and the South East, whilst reducing the negative impact of these policies on other less affluent parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party’s proposal to introduce an annual indexation of rents will leave more tenants out of pocket and only exacerbate high rents in the UK, as it will encourage a culture of regular rental increases, according to the National Landlords Association (NLA).

The association points out that its latest research reveals that many landlords are choosing not to raise their rents despite local market rates increasing over the past year. Some 45% of landlords say that rents have risen in their local area over the past 12 months, yet just a third have raised rents during that period. Fewer still, 28%, say they plan to raise rents…

Gross mortgage lending in the UK held steady in May and was an estimated £16.5 billion, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

This is identical to April’s gross lending total and is 12% higher than May last year when it was £14.8 billion.

‘Market indicators point to a slowdown in activity levels, in part associated with new mortgage rules, but it is unclear how lasting this will be,’ said CML chief economist Bob Pannell.

‘Implementation of the new regulatory regime is likely to have disrupted the normal patterns of activity, creating statistical “fog” around the published figures. As this lifts over the coming months, a clearer picture as to any lasting impact of the MMR rules on lending activity should emerge,’ he added.

David Newnes, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains owned by LSL Property Services, pointed out that the lending landscape is weathering a significant transformation. ‘This is calming the pace of growth in the mortgage market, as stricter borrowing criteria and affordability checks lengthen the process and moderate home loans. Annual growth in house sales cooled in May, prices are beginning to level out and even dip at the top end of the market in London,’ he explained.

‘However it is still very early days in the shadow of the regulatory change and we need a period of time before we can fully understand the impact of the overhaul. The mortgage market is still healthily on the road to recovery, with gross lending 12% higher than May last year,’ he said.

‘At the lower end of the mortgage market, first time buyer demand is still buoyant and supporting activity levels and market confidence. With inflation falling to a four-year low, and with renewed signs that the Chancellor George Osborne will not curtail Help to Buy ahead of time, many households are seizing their opportunity to get onto the property ladder,’ he added.

Duncan Kreeger, director of lender West One Loans, believes that the new mortgage rules are playing a part. ‘Mortgage lending is treading water while millions scramble for homes. New affordability rules, such as we’ve seen introduced recently via the MMR are certainly playing a part. But the volume of lending is not the problem, more of it wouldn’t solve the nation’s housing crisis,’ he said.

‘The problem is there aren’t enough homes to go around. And despite some baby steps, we are facing a serious lack of development. The link between lending and building has been broken. Increasingly alternative lenders are funding development and increasing the stock of homes on the market. The future lies in improving affordability, not in pumping up house prices without justification,’ he added.

According to Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), the new mortgage rules have justifiably tightened the screw on lending to ensure it is permanently focused on affordability. ‘Early indications show mortgage activity has temporarily slowed and is clearly following an entirely different trajectory to UK…

Residential real estate inventory in the United States is down for the fourth month in row and home values are also falling, the first decline in two years.

Inventory declined year on year in 21 of the nation’s 35 largest metro with Houston, San Antonio and Boston experiencing the biggest decreases in supply of for sale homes. The cities saw inventory falls of 26.6%, 23.7%, 23.4% respectively.

According to the latest figures from real estate firm Zillow, US home values in April were down 0.1% from March while homes listed for sale were down 0.4% annually.

The firm says that after rising at the end of 2013, for sale inventory has fallen for four straight months in 2014. In many metros, inventory is tightest in the lower end of the market, which represents the homes most commonly sought by first time buyers.

‘First time home buyers are ready to buy, but unfortunately, aren’t able to take advantage of the spring shopping season and low mortgage rates because of the lack of homes for sale in their price range,’ said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries.

‘This shortage of inventory is driven by a couple factors, most notably by stubbornly high negative equity, particularly at the lower end of the market, which is preventing many sellers from listing their homes,’ he added.

Among the 35 largest metros covered by Zillow, home values in a dozen were down in April from March, and were flat in two more. Year on year home values rose 5.3% in April.

For the 12 month period from April 2014 to April 2015, national home values are expected to rise another 2.2% to approximately $173,971, according to the Zillow Home Value Forecast.

Large metro areas expected to show the most appreciation over the next year include Riverside with growth of 12.6%, Las Vegas 8.7% and Seattle 8%.

National rents dipped slightly in April from March, down 0.3% to a Zillow Rent Index of $1,311. Year on year, national rents were up 2.3% in April.

Activity in the UK housing market has bounced back from the effects of new mortgage affordability rules, according to the latest report from chartered surveyors Connells Survey & Valuation.Property valuations activity has returned to growth, up 3% on a monthly basis as of May after a 15% month on month fall previously in April.

First time buyers form a significant part of renewed overall growth and the firm said that the total number of valuations for first time buyers is now up 9% compared to April, growing on a monthly basis considerably faster than any other section of the market. This leaves new buyer valuations activity at levels 8% ahead of May 2013.

‘The most severe effects of the MMR have been proved as temporary, while the benefits will last much longer. Disruption over the transition period between old and new regimes was expected, and temporary problems seen by some lenders have now been almost entirely resolved. We expect solid, steady growth in the market over the rest of 2014,’ said John Bagshaw, corporate services director of Connells Survey & Valuation.

‘The new rules introduced in April ensure that progress via mortgage lending is sustainable and that progress continues. Today the property industry is proving it remains on an optimistic trajectory led by first time buyers,’ he added.

He also pointed out that while the good news for first time buyers this contrasts with more muted activity from established home movers. The total number of valuations carried out in May for home movers who already own their home is down marginally by 1% since April. This also leaves home mover valuations activity down by 1% compared to May 2013.

‘Property remains in short supply and although prices are rising, many established owners are content to stay in their current home. Most households still feel firmly in recovery mode, gradually rebuilding lost financial security. But true optimism is set to return. Personal finances should start to feel the effects of a wider economic recovery this year, which should breathe a gradual wave of life into each step of the property ladder,’ Bagshaw explained.

Buy to let activity has also fallen by 1% on a monthly basis, though this leaves the total number of buy to let valuations at levels 11% higher than in May 2013, due to strong growth in the buy to let sector previously in the last 12 months.

Remortgaging has recovered from a sharp dip in April, with activity in May up 4% on the previous month. This has boosted annual growth in the number of remortgaging valuations to 5%, in line with the housing market as a whole.

‘Some have suggested the post-MMR world would see a buy to let boom, since such lending is not subject to the same strict rules as mortgages for owner occupiers. But so far this…

Rents in England and Wales have increased 11% annually as demand also rises with the pace of growth in London showing no signs of slowing, according to the latest rental index.

London tenant demand has increased at more than 11 times the rate of supply and overall demand is up 14% year on year while the supply has only increased by 7%, the Sequence national rent report shows.

It means that the average rent is now £784 but in London it is £1,468. Month on month this is a rise of 1% for the country as a whole but on the capital city rent growth slowed to 0% on a monthly basis.

But the pace of the London rental market shows no sign of slowing down with new agreed tenancies up 34% annually and in the rest of the UK there has been a 20% year on year increase in new tenancies.

‘Demand to rent across the country remains insatiable with the number of tenants seeking to rent up 14% annually in May and 5% on the month. This demand still isn’t being met by supply,’ said Stephen Nation, head of lettings for Sequence, which includes Barnard Marcus, William H Brown and Fox & Sons.

He pointed out that with new rental properties available down by 7% on last year, this means that monthly rents will continue their upward trajectory and in May rents were up 11% on May 2013.

‘The London market remains the most competitive across the UK and successful tenants need to move swiftly to secure a property. New agreed tenancies soared 34% annually in the Capital. Rental increases are more subdued than the national average, remaining flat on the month but up 7% annually. This is partly because we are seeing some new supply edging into the market,’ explained Nation.

‘Buy to let mortgages remain our most popular mortgage product but applications are subdued in May, down 9% annually and 4% on the month. This can be attributed to a number of factors including the initial knock on effect of MMR and some uncertainty around interest rate rises,’ he added.

The index report also shows that nationally tenant viewings are up 10% annually and 3% on the month in May, which shows that tenants are particularly active in their search for their ideal home.

New agreed tenancies are up 20% annually and 3% on the month. Due to the level of monthly growth being the same for these two market indicators, the ratio of tenant viewings to new tenancies agreed remains 7.6/1 in May when compared to April, but on an annual basis the ratio is down from 8.3/1 in May 2013. This shows that tenants recognise the need to move fast in this market.

London viewings soared 36% on the month and decreased marginally on the month by 3% and new agreed tenancies are up by 34% annually and 1% on the month. As a result of the monthly dip in viewings and growth in…

The developer behind the Capital Square scheme, which last week was confirmed as the preferred location for BBC Wales’ new headquarters, has questioned the need for the Welsh Government to develop its own office space in the capital.

Willmott Dixon has begun work on a £120m retail scheme designed to regenerate the Yorkshire town of Beverley.

Numerous national high street retail chains have already signed up for space on the 10-acre Flemingate centre, which is being developed by Hull-based Wykeland Group.  There will also be a cinema and a multi-storey car park.

It is scheduled to open to the public by Christmas 2015.

Willmott Dixon regional managing director Anthony Dixon said: “Flemingate is a fantastic scheme for the whole region, attracting inward investment that will bring long-term economic and leisure benefits to Beverley.  We have a strong track-record in the county and are looking forward to delivering a truly great shopping and leisure facility.”

East Riding of Yorkshire Council leader Stephen Parnaby welcomed the start of work. He said: “The development and planning process for this land began way back in 2005, if not earlier, and the company is to be congratulated for now being able to deliver such an important scheme. It is just what the town needs.”

He added: “While  Beverley is a thriving, bustling community of independents shops which give the town its character and offer fantastic, artisan products they would not get elsewhere, but the town lacks the commercial space needed to accommodate large national retailers that have wanted to come here for many years but have not been able.”

Lovell is building a £5m development of 58 affordable homes for social housing provider Riverside as part of the ongoing regeneration of the Raffles estate in Carlisle.

The project is a partnership between Riverside, Carlisle City Council and Lovell. The Homes & Communities Agency is providing funding support.

The new homes – due for completion in early 2015 – will be a mix of bungalows and two-, three- and four-bedroom houses, which will all be for affordable rent. 

Over the past decade, Lovell has built 262 new homes on the estate. Regional director Nigel Yates said: “We’re delighted to be working with Riverside and Carlisle City Council on this latest phase of development at Raffles, helping provide modern, well-designed affordable homes for local people.  Lovell has now worked at Raffles for more than a decade and it has been highly rewarding to see how the area has changed. We are all extremely pleased to have started work on this most recent phase in the estate’s continuing transformation.”

A Mace joint venture has bought land owned by retailer Selfridges in Glasgow city centre to redevelop it into a mixed use scheme.

Located in the Merchant City area of Glasgow, the proposed development will include homes and shops.

The scheme is being promoted by Candleriggs, a 50/50 joint venture between the investment arm of Mace and funds managed by Mercer Real Estate Partners. Richard Murphy Architects is taking the lead on design and JLL is advising on planning.

The aim is to submit a planning application by the end of 2014.

Mace development director Mike Myles said: “We are incredibly excited to have acquired the site and we look forward to developing proposals in conjunction with Glasgow City Council and local stakeholders. We are fully committed to developing a high class scheme that will positively contribute to the Merchant City”.

Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson backs the scheme. He said: “It’s great news plans for the redevelopment of the Candleriggs site are now progressing. Local residents and businesses are delighted the site has been cleared over recent weeks and are looking forward to seeing it brought back to life.

“The plans for the Candleriggs site will, I am sure, be of the very highest quality and very exciting. The council and the local community will look forward to working with Mace and Mercer Real Estate Partners on their plans, which when complete will strengthen Merchant City’s position as a jewel in Glasgow’s crown.”

Kier has won a £140m repairs and maintenance contract with Genesis Housing Association.

Kier will carry out planned maintenance and cyclical works such as painting and decorating at all Genesis properties – a total of 33,000 homes. It will also provide responsive repairs for 10,000 Genesis’ homes in East London and the East of England. The remaining properties will continue to be serviced by Genesis’ in-house team.

The contract will run for four years initially. Through the tender process, Kier has committed to using local subcontractors and suppliers, and to providing employment and apprenticeship opportunities to Genesis residents.

Kier and Genesis are now mobilising the contract, and will be phasing in the start of external painting work from mid-July, with responsive repairs starting in mid-October.

Kier executive director John Wilkinson said: “Our priority is to work with Genesis staff and their customers to achieve a first-class service that we can all be proud of. We have a policy of ‘walking in customers’ shoes’, and over the coming months we will work with Genesis and the tenant groups already set up in order to ensure the highest levels of customer service.”

Genesis Housing Association chief executive Neil Hadden added: “This is an exciting new partnership that will help to ensure we’re meeting our residents’ needs. Customer focus was key throughout the tendering process, and we’re confident that in Kier we’ve found a provider that understands the requirements of our customers and the values that run through everything we do.”

A £22m contract to design and build a five-storey faculty building for Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge is up for grabs.

The university is planning to develop a new Faculty of Science & Technology, with 8,800m² of teaching and staff space and is advertising for a design and build contractor.

The project will include a small amount of refurbishment and enabling work to existing university accommodation in order to facilitate the works of the new building. A contract notice was published today in the EU Official Journal.

See our Contract Leads section for further details.

Five leading contractors will be working together on a £184m Highways Agency contract to convert a 17 mile stretch of the Manchester Orbital route to a ‘smart’ motorway.

Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain and a BAM Nuttall/Morgan Sindall joint venture will all have to cooperate on the project as partners, which involves putting in cameras, gantries and variable message boards onto parts of the M60 and M62 motorways.

At peak, 1,000 construction workers will be on the project.

Balfour Beatty will take the lead on the project, overseeing the work of the other three contracting partners.

The idea of so-called ‘smart’ motorways, previously referred to as ‘managed motorways’ is that variable speed limits can be set to maintain smooth, steady traffic flow, thus reducing or eliminating the accelerating and braking that leads to snarl ups. The signage also allows the hard shoulder to be opened up to traffic as an additional lane at peak times.

The contract is being delivered under the Highways Agency National Major Projects Framework. The collaboration agreement is intended to reduce individual contractor risk and encourage knowledge sharing and best practice.

The M60 between junctions 8 and 12 will be upgraded to a controlled motorway with traffic flows managed by technology interventions responsive to the volume of traffic on the network.  The M62 between junctions 18 and 20 will become a four-lane, all lane running motorway by adapting the hard shoulder for continuous use and using electronic signs to manage traffic flows.

Construction work will start in July and is scheduled for completion by autumn 2017. Work includes installing and refurbishing gantries, new static and variable signs, lighting, concrete safety barriers, drainage and surfacing works. Some 200 electronic signs and 24 new CCTV cameras will go up.

Balfour Beatty executive chairman Steve Marshall said:  “We have been working with the Highways Agency for 20 years and look forward to building on that successful relationship.  This scheme will benefit the 180,000 road users that pass through this section of the motorway network every day. We are committed to lead this project in a collaborative way with our partners, employing local people and businesses in our supply chain.”

Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie said: “The upgrading of our road network infrastructure is essential to maintaining and improving connectivity amongst the various regions of the UK, and thus to enabling the nation’s economy to grow. We look forward to working in collaboration with the Highways Agency and with our partners to deliver this project, using the latest in new and innovative traffic management technology.”

Carillion chief executive Richard Howson said: “As a leading supplier to the Highways Agency we are delighted to have been selected for this latest Smart Motorway scheme.  We look forward to working with the Highways Agency and our delivery partners to increase capacity and improve journey times and safety on the M60 and M62.”

The Highways Agency has handed Telent Technology Services a trio of contracts, together worth more than £15m to maintain roadside technology on the M25 and one motorways and trunk roads in the east region and the southeast

All three contracts run for five years.

Telent now manages all routine and reactive maintenance for more than 12,000 technology assets, such as emergency roadside telephones, message signs, traffic signal sites, Highways Agency weather stations and CCTV cameras. 

Telent already has contracts to maintain traffic signals for a number of local authorities across the region, including Kent, West Sussex, Peterborough, Southampton, Luton, Cambridge and Medway.

Wates Construction has started work on the £100m Central Square development in Leeds.

An 11-storey office building is being constructed on a former Royal Mail site between Whitehall Road and Wellington Street in the city.

The joint developer is Roydhouse Properties and Marrico. Completion of the development is scheduled for early 2016.

Designed by DLA Design, the 220,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme will comprise 25,000 sq ft floor plates of flexible Grade A office space, retail and leisure provision and 128 car parking spaces.

Wates director David Price said: “We have worked closely with Marrico LLP and project architects, DLA Design, to ensure that we make a prompt start in delivering Central Square. The presence of tower cranes across Leeds is fast becoming a symbol of resurgence in the city’s development and Wates is very proud to be the main contractor in a scheme that is sure to be central to this growth.”

Marrico was formed in late 2013 by Mark Barnes, Colin Fell and Richard Bland. Central Square is their first development in this new venture with Steve Parkin and Gurnaik Chima. They have several other schemes in the pipeline and are looking for further development and investment opportunities, they said.

The National Trust is holding a supplier engagement day on Thursday 3rd July for builders in the northwest region.

Building trades are invited to go along and meet building surveyors from the National Trust at its offices in Altrincham to learn about procuring work on some of the charity’s famous historic sites. Planned work involves extensions, repairs and refurbishments at estates in Cheshire, including Dunham Massey and Quarry Bank, as well as areas of the Lake District. The scope of opportunities includes roofing, scaffolding, utilities and timber and masonry repairs.

Phyllis Bayley, lead building surveyor at the National Trust, said: “As a national charity we look after a large number of listed and historic buildings across the UK, and are responsible for their upkeep. Local contractors have a vested interest in their own communities, including National Trust sites on their doorstep. This event will allow us to engage with skilled SME contractors in the region.”

The event, organised by Constructionline, is free but registration is recommended. For more information or to register interest, go to www.constructionline.co.uk/events.

Balfour Beatty has been awarded a £16m contract by Network Rail Infrastructure to deliver a series of substations and associated civil works associated with the Crossrail project.

The contract involves the detailed design, construction and commissioning of eight 25kV auto transformer substations and associated civil works located between Shenfield and Pudding Mill Lane in the east and north east of London, and the Kensal Green auto transformer feeder station and Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Work starts this month and should complete in 2017.

Contract notice, The most economic tender, Water