Contract notice, The most economic tender, Other

Contract notice, The most economic tender, Railway services

Contract notice, The most economic tender, Environment

Contract notice, The most economic tender, Environment

£400,000 • External alterations including formation of rear balconies in the roof and use of premises as altered as 7 self contained permanent flats and 1 maisonette, with associated bin and cycle stores, landscaping and boundary treatment, following demolition of b

£35,000,000 • Development of up to 425 residential dwellings (Use Class C3), a medical centre and education facilities (Use Class D1), formal and informal green spaces, sports and recreation provision, structural landscaping, new roads, footpaths and cycle ways, site a

£100,000 • Planning permission for change of use, extensions and alterations to create two additional flats with associated car parking including demolition of existing building

£300,000 • Change of Use from house in multiple occupation and single studio flat, to five studio flats, including creation of roof extension to provide additional floor.

£100,000 • Change of Use of ground floor sales unit from Opticians to Estate Agents including changes to external signage.

£100,000 • Demolition of various outbuildings/removal of containers and replacement with purpose built storage building

£100,000 • Erection of a mansard roof extension to 30/30a Scrutton Street, erection of a second floor roof extension to 29 Holywell Row, erection of a three storey infill extension providing enclosed glazed staircase and associated soft landscaping of central courty

£100,000 • Proposed hiar & beauty salon.

£100,000 • Erection of a building for multiple occupation (9 bedrooms) with 2no. self contained flats and a detached laundry building following demolition of existing garages (Revised scheme of 13/01175/PLF)

£300,000 • Erection of a detached two storey dwelling with detached garage, detached dormer bungalow and one pair of semi detached dormer bungalows with access road following demolition of the existing dwelling

£100,000 • Reversion of 05C”Part of Property05C” from Offices and Wine Store (Personal Consent) to Residential and New Dwelling and Access to the Walled Garden served off existing access drive

£100,000 • Erection of two dwellings (outline) access only

£100,000 • Erection of first and second floor infill extension to provide 2 x 1 bed and 2 x 2 bed self-contained residential flats.

£100,000 • Change of use of property from single dwellinghouse to three self-contained flats including the erection of a new mansard roof.

£100,000 • Demolition of existing garages at rear of 114 Chatsworth Rooad and erection of two, three storey (including basement level) dwellinghouses (3 bed)

£100,000 • Change of use of first floor office to rear to provide No.2 residential flats

£5,000,000 • CITY COUNCIL DEVELOPMENT for the erection of new speedway stadium with associated grandstand and spectator bowl creating a total capacity of 6,024 seats with associated flood lighting to track, acoustic fence to Penketh Avenue and Stanley Grove and ancill

£1,000,000 • Two storey rear extension and alterations to front facade and fenestration. Change of use from Class Use A4 (Pub) to A1 (Retail) at ground floor and Class Use B1 (Office) at first floor. Refurbishment of existing first floor offices. Creation of 3no. addi

£7,000,000 • Residential development of 92 dwellings including provision for the over-55’s

£1,400,000 • Outline application for erection of 18 dwellings and access road – all other matters reserved

Prime country house prices in England rose by 1.1% in the second quarter of 2014, taking the annual increase in prices to 5.2% over the year to June, the latest index shows.

In means that prime country house prices have now increased for six quarters in a row and are up 5.2% year on year, according to the index from Knight Frank.

The firm pointed out that although still playing catch-up with the prime market in London, where prices increased by 7.8% over the year to May, this is the strongest rate of annual growth in the prime country market in four years.

Sales are also increasing with the volume of prime country sales completed in the second quarter some 11% higher than the corresponding period last year. This was driven primarily by the sub £2 million market which accounted for 80% of Knight Frank sales over the three months to June.

The index reports says that the higher volume of sub £2 million sales has contributed to stronger price rises for homes valued below this threshold. While average values of sub-£2 million prime properties rose by 1.3% between April and June, growth in value for houses worth over £2 million was 0.6%.

In the super prime market, that is homes worth over £5 million, values actually fell by 2.3% over the course of the quarter, although they remain 1.2% higher on an annual basis.

While there are indications that buyers have started to factor the higher 7% stamp duty charge for £2 million plus properties into decisions, fresh uncertainty surrounding the possible introduction and form of a mansion tax has contributed to lower price growth for homes worth £2 million and more.

On a regional basis, the Home Counties and South West markets have continued to benefit most from the London ripple effect, with house price growth spreading outwards from central London.

Additionally, these markets are being boosted by the return of London buyers. This is reflected in country hotspots, many of which are close or within commuting distance of the Capital. Prices of prime property in Winchester and Cobham rose by 2.6% in the second quarter, while prices in Virginia Water were 2.5% higher and in Oxford values climbed by 1.8%.

Looking to the future, there are signs momentum may be slowing slightly. While the number of property viewings was fairly steady during the three months to June compared to the same period last year, the number of prospective buyers registering their interest in buying a prime country home fell by 2%, the report also says.

‘After little or no price growth for a couple of years, the increased activity in the country market is slowly filtering through to price growth,’ said Rupert Sweeting, head of Knight Frank Country.

He explained that there are areas that are more active than others with counties like Hampshire seeing a significant increase in sales reflecting renewed confidence from London buyers.

‘The ripples have not reached the far flung…

Property prices in Dublin are 22% higher than a year ago and are now growing at a faster rate than at any time since the height of the housing boom, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

Meanwhile price across the country are up year on year to the end of May by 10.6%, higher than the annual 8.5% increase recorded in May, suggesting that the property market recovery is growing outside of the capital city. This compares to a fall of 1.1% recorded in the 12 months to the end of May 2013.

In Dublin prices were up 4.2% month on month. The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland rose by 0.6% in May compared with an increase of 0.1% in May of last year. Prices were 1.8% higher than in May 2013.

In Dublin apartment prices were 19.5% higher in May when compared with the same month of 2013 but the CSO said that it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series.

House prices in Dublin are 44.4% lower than at their highest level in early 2007. Apartments in Dublin are 53.4% lower than they were in February 2007. But overall prices in Dublin are still 46.3% lower than at their highest level in February 2007.

The price of properties in the rest of Ireland is 47% lower than their highest level in September 2007 and overall, the national index is 45.1% lower than its highest level in 2007.

Experts do not believe there is a risk of a housing bubble. Conall Mac Coile, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers pointed out that there is a low number of transactions and a low volume of building starts.

But he added that specific measures to boost sustainable housing starts are needed. Few houses are being built because many building firms were damaged or went out of business during the financial crisis.

Also, existing home owners are currently unwilling to sell. High levels of home loan debt, a legacy of the property bust, mean many households cannot contemplate selling for some time, analysts say.

US, Chinese and Russian buyers were among the most active foreign buyers in Spain in the first quarter of 2014, according to new data from the General Council of Notaries in Spain.

The number of Spanish properties bought by these nationalities increased by 88.9%, 83.1% and 62.6% respectively in the first quarter compared to the same period a year earlier.

Foreign buyers accounted for 19.4% of all Spanish property sales in the first quarter of 2014 and non-residents accounted for 47.9% of these.

The regions seeing the strongest rise in foreign buyers include The Basque Country with an increase of 43.3%, Catalonia up 41.1%), the Balearic Islands up 36.4%, Asturias up 34.8%, Andalucia up 32.5% and the Canary Islands up 23.8%. The number of purchases by foreign buyers in Madrid has also jumped significantly, up by 42.5% year on year.

Foreign property purchases are increasing with British buyers now accounting for 13.8% of all foreign purchases, French buyers account for 10.5%, Russians 8.4%, Germans 7.5% and Belgians 6.9%.

The average price of a property purchased by a foreign buyer continues to fall and currently stands at €1,486 per square meter, a fall of 3.8% year on year.

According to Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at real estate firm Knight Frank, the growing presence of US, Russian and Chinese buyers is a sign that the Golden Investment Visa initiative, introduced in September 2013 may be starting to have an effect.

The scheme, designed to attract non-European Union investors by offering a two year residency permit in return for a €500,000 investment in real estate has already been effective in Portugal but until now there has been little evidence to judge its impact in Spain.

The Notaires report also shows which nationalities pay the most for their Spanish homes. Norway and Sweden came out on top in the first quarter of 2014, paying on average €1,935 per square meter €1,732 per square meter respectively.

Irish buyers paid more than British buyers, although both were around the middle. Romanian and Moroccan buyers paid the least, averaging €800 per square meter and €795 per square meter respectively.

Slow, steady prime house price growth is now fanning out from London with regional markets recording annual price growth for a fourth successive quarter, according to latest analysis from international real estate adviser, Savills.

The UK prime market average rose by 5.7% in the year to the end of June and 3.1% in the first six months of 2014, the Savills prime regional index shows.

Though less than the growth seen in the first quarter, second quarter growth averaged 1.1%, in line with prime London where the rate of price rises has slowed and suggesting that the gap between the two markets may have peaked.

The strongest growth continues to be seen closer to the capital reflecting a displacement of London housing wealth into commuter markets. The prime suburbs have outperformed the capital for the first time since the credit crunch, recording growth of 5.7% in the first six months of 2014, compared to the prime London average of 4.9%.

‘There is now clear evidence that the recovery is taking hold across the UK more widely, with a return to former 2007 peak values still a useful benchmark of that recovery,’ said Lucian Cook, Savills UK head of residential research.

Across the Savills prime regional index values remain on average 5.6% below their former peak, while the outer commuter zone, a ring of up to one hour’s travel distance from the capital, saw a return to peak in the second quarter. However, beyond the commuter zone, prices remain some way below their 2007 peak, despite annual price growth

At the extreme, in Scotland, where the forthcoming independence referendum is causing some uncertainty, particularly amongst buyers from outside Scotland who are key to a full recovery in the high value markets, prices are 21.9% below peak.

The market above £2 million remains more fragile, with the price threshold that resulted from stamp duty increases remaining entrenched. This is evidenced in the prime country house market which recorded quarterly growth of just 0.1%.

‘The recovery in this high value marketplace is hard to generalise, since every property and location is unique. Some properties are selling rapidly, with competition, while others require price adjustments to sell as fragile buyer sentiment remains susceptible to the changing news agenda, in particular the renewed spectre of a mansion tax,’ explained Cook.

The analysis also reflects the fact that buyers continue to favour urban locations. Prime properties in regional cities saw growth of 1.7 % in the three months to the end of June, with annual growth totalling 8.1%.

This compares to quarterly growth of 0.9% for village properties and 0.5% for prime properties in rural locations, and annual growth of 5.3% and 3.3% respectively. Prime cities are now on average just 1.7% below peak, compared to prime rural properties which are 13.5% below.

‘The prime market is responding to…

Over half of all mortgaged residential property in the UK is not covered by any form of protection insurance, it has been revealed.

Nearly 60% of people would rely on savings to cover mortgage repayments if they couldn’t work despite most having £10,000 or less, according to research from life and pensions provider Friends Life.

London has the lowest take up of protection insurance with more than 775,000 homes at risk but overall some six million homes in the UK could be at risk.

The firm says that it highlights the financial tightrope many people are walking when it comes to their largest investment.

‘To find that six million homes are at risk because the owners have no financial safety net protecting them is almost unbelievable. Buying a house is the biggest investment most people will ever make and it’s hard to comprehend why people wouldn’t want to safeguard that,’ said Steve Payne, managing director of UK Protection at Friends Life.

‘It has never been more important for people to be getting advice about protection insurance. Property prices are continuing to rise so a home as an investment is getting more valuable, another reason why protecting it is so important,’ he added.

Home ownership can be protected by life insurance, critical illness cover or income protection. Then should the worst happen and a property owner dies or becomes ill and is unable to work, the pay out from their insurer could be used to cover the cost of their mortgage.

Life insurance continues to be the most popular form of protection. However, only 38% of mortgage payers hold a policy, and take up falls even further for critical illness cover at 14% and income protection at 7%.

Londoners are most at risk with those owning property in the capital least likely to have any kind of protection insurance, despite property prices being the highest in the UK. The survey showed that just 34% have any form of protection insurance, lower than anywhere else in the country. It means owners of more than 775,000 homes in London are unprotected.

‘With the average house price in London now over £450,000, property in the capital is a huge investment. That figure is likely to rise further, yet Londoners do least to protect their greatest asset,’ said Payne.

Residents in Northern Ireland, on the other hand, were more financially savvy with nearly double having some form of life insurance, critical illness cover or income protection.

The UK’s biggest building materials group has been put up for sale just 18 months after its creation.

Building materials giants Lafarge of France and Holcim of Switzerland have announced merger plans that include the sale of the UK company Lafarge Tarmac of which Lafarge owns 50%.

This suits the other joint venture partner, Anglo American, down to the ground because it has long been looking to get out of building materials. To ease the way for a sale of Lafarge Tarmac, Anglo American said that it would sell its half share to Lafarge for £885m (US $1.5bn) in cash. Allowing room for negotiation, and Lafarge/Holcim being more flexible, that puts an approximate price tag of at least £1.6bn on Lafarge Tarmac. The vendors will likely seek a premium on top of this, since a single buyer would have total control of the business, which might be considered more than twice as valuable as a 50% stake. With a control premium, the price could be more like £2bn.

Lafarge and Holcim announced that they were in merger talks in April.

The sale of Lafarge Tarmac is one of a number of remedies that they have now set out in a bid to satisfy competition authorities.

Approximately 20% of the €32bn revenues of the future LafargeHolcim group will be in Europe. To satisfying the European Commission regulators, they are planning to sell:

• the UK: Lafarge Tarmac assets with the possible exception of one cement plant
• Austria: Lafarge’s Mannersdorf cement plant
• France: Holcim’s assets in metropolitan France, except for its Altkirch cement plant and aggregates and readymix sites in the Haut-Rhin market; Lafarge’s assets on Reunion island, except for its shareholding in Ciments de Bourbon
• Germany: Lafarge’s assets
• Hungary: Holcim’s operating assets
• Romania: Lafarge’s assets
• Serbia: Holcim’s assets

In other countries the planned disposals are:

• Canada: Holcim’s assets
• Mauritius: Holcim’s assets
• The Philippines and Brazil: divestment details to be announced.

Lafarge Tarmac in the UK was created in January 2013. It has 330 sites across the country and 6,600 employees. It provides aggregates, asphalt, cement, readymix concrete, lime and powders and contracting services. It has gross assets of £2.86bn, including goodwill and made a pre-tax loss of £66m in its first year.

Comment: Potential buyers?

UK competition regulators required certain assets to be sold as a condition for the creation of Lafarge Tarmac. This created an opportunity for Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal to enter the cement and concrete business. For £285m, he bought five quarries, a cement plant and 172 readymix concrete plants, among other things, and created Hope Construction Materials. His son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, is chairman of Hope.

While Mr Mittal undoubtedly has the finance and ambition required to acquire Lafarge Tarmac should he wish, it would mean a whole new reorganisation of the entire UK industry.

Breedon Aggregates, created in 2010 by Peter Tom and Simon Vivian, former bosses of Aggregate Industries and Hanson respectively, is also acquisitive and ambitious. While its leadership has the experience to front a deal for Lafarge Tarmac, the £1.5bn price tag is way beyond anything Breedon has countenanced before.

Another prospect is an institutional investor stepping in, rather than a strategic one, with the prospect of further upheaval five years down the line.

Whatever happens, as Sam Cooke sang in another context, a change is gonna come.

Nearly a half of new home sales by Taylor Wimpey are now helped by public subsidy from the taxpayer.

During the first half of 2104, Taylor Wimpey completed 4,755 private homes were private completions. Approximately 2,000 of these were sold with Help to Buy equity loans.

Including housing association jobs and joint ventures, Taylor Wimpey completed 5,766 new homes in the first half of 2014, an 11% increase on the first half of 2013.

Average private sale price was up 9% to £224,000.

Although some build costs are increasing in certain trades and materials, the company said in a trading update, “these are being maintained at manageable levels”. As a consequence, operating profit margin for the first half of 2014 is expected to be 16%, up from 13.1% for the same period last year.

“We believe that the market risk in the short to medium term has reduced in the first half of 2014 due to a general underlying economic improvement, the extension of Help to Buy to 2020 and balanced prudential measures to reduce long term risk,” the board said.

Half-year results will be announced on 30 July.