Residential property sales to first time buyers in the UK have grown 27%, marking the strongest opening half of a year since 2007, new research shows.

There were 146,000 first time buyers between January and June, some 30,000 more than in 2013, according to the First Time Buyers Opinion Barometer from Your Move and Reeds Rains, part of LSL Property Services.

In June alone there were 26,500 first time buyer sales, some 10% more than 12 months ago and topping 26,000 for the second consecutive month, the data also shows.

The last time the opening half of a year saw more first time buyer sales was in 2007 before the financial crisis began to bite when there were 181,500 transactions.

On a monthly basis, there were 26,500 first time buyer sales in June, 10% more than twelve months ago. It was the second consecutive month in which the number of transactions topped 26,000.

The average first time buyer deposit was a fifth lower than a year ago and at the same time, first time buyer purchase prices have stayed fairly stable.

The average first time buyer mortgage has risen 2.9% over the last year to £119,743, while prices have stayed flat but deposits have fallen. The market is indicating signs at first time buyer level of remaining stable and prices not spiralling out of control.

‘The bottom of the market continues to recover, even as activity further up the price bands is beginning to show signs of slowing down. Lenders have been more willing to lend to higher loan-to-value borrowers. Help to Buy has boosted confidence and with it demand among first timers who have been carefully saving up for their deposit,’ said David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services.

But he believes that the new loan to income caps could have a stifling effect on the first time buyer market. ‘They have understandably been designed to prevent too much risky lending to borrowers with smaller deposits, but they need careful interpretation to ensure they do not cut good buyers with realistic and very affordable borrowing expectations out of the market,’ he explained.

‘MMR regulations already stress test borrowers’ ability to withstand a base rate rise. The further regulation could sap the energy at the bottom of the market,’ he added.

The data also shows that in June 2014, some 93% of tenants registered with Your Move and Reeds Rains wanted to become home owners and overall the proportion of registered tenants expecting to buy in the near future is increasing. In June 2013, only 12% of tenants expected to buy in the next 12 months. A year later, that proportion has risen to 17%.

A further 38% of tenants surveyed in June 2014 believe they will be able to buy within the next five years and 29% expect to buy at some point in the future.

But the number of tenants who believe they will never be able to afford to buy is also increasing. Some 14% were…

The government has announced that the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund has been closed for applications with immediate effect following overwhelming demand.

A surge in applications over the last two days means the allocated budget has now been reached.  All applications received prior to the fund closing that satisfy the terms and conditions and meet the eligibility criteria will be honoured at the original rates.

The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund was set up to help households in England and Wales improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Parliamentary under secretary of state for energy and climate change Amber Rudd said: “The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is a world first and in a short space of time it has proved extremely popular. We were always clear there was a budget which is why we encouraged people to act quickly. As a result, thousands more families will now benefit from Government help to have warmer homes which use less energy.”

Earlier this week Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) DECC had announced changes to the scheme.

DECC will monitor voucher redemption rates and will consider whether to launch a further offer should funds become available.

In December 2013, the government announced a £540m three-year energy efficiency package and up to £120m will be available for home energy efficiency schemes from April 2015.

The Highways Agency is piloting the use of wooden barriers to tackle the impact of poor air quality around motorways.

Construction began yesterday of two air quality barriers near junction 18 of the M62 near Simister, Greater Manchester, along which more than 142,000 vehicles drive every day.

The £2.5m scheme will build barriers on each side of the motorway by September, before a year-long trial to test their effectiveness in tackling harmful vehicle emissions will start.

The barriers, which have been trialled in other European countries, work by dispersing emissions and can act as an safeguard to communities near busy roads. The results of international studies so far show the barriers can reduce the level of oxides of nitrogen by up to 20% in some areas.

If successful, the barriers could shape the future design of other major road schemes where air pollution exceeds legal thresholds according to the Highways Agency. Senior project manager Jacqui Allen said: “We need to ensure that whilst government spending to improve England’s road network is tripling to over £3 billion by 2021, it is vital we also look after our environment.

“This pilot will provide us with more evidence as to whether these barriers can be effective, and is just one part of our research to find new ways of dispersing harmful emissions.”

Each wooden barrier will be 100m long and 4m high, increasing to 6m if needed. The barriers are supported by steel structures and positioned on either side of the motorway, in an offset position from each other, to the east of junction 18.

The equipment to monitor local air quality levels will be placed at either side of the barriers and behind, with the equipment behind stretching back to a distance of up to 200m. This allows for samples recorded at the different collection points to be analysed and compared.

Following the 12 study the results will be considered before any decision on future use of barriers is made.

A garden can add up to 10% to the price of a property in London where outdoor space can be at a premium, according to new research.

London properties with outside space are most likely to go to sealed bids and 65% of London property searches request outside space, says the research from independent agent Greene & Co.

The demand is fuelled by the growing popularity of entertaining at home and an increasing number of families choosing to stay in London, rather than move away from London and face rising travel costs. As a result, these properties are the most likely to be sold through sealed bids, the firm says.

In Crouch End, a one bedroom garden flat marketed for offers in excess of £360,000 saw 58 viewings in just one open house afternoon. The property received eight offers through sealed bids, sold for £50,000 over the guide price and exchanged and completed within six weeks.

A Maida Vale garden flat sold for £35,000 over the asking price to a buyer who had missed out on five other properties through sealed bids.

‘Space is at a premium in London, and we are seeing a growing number of homeowners in the Capital seek to maximise the square footage of their home. Properties with outside space are popular with families, but now we are seeing a rise in the number of downsizers, who enjoy gardening, and young professionals looking for additional room to entertain or that always useful outside storage room,’ said David Pollock, managing director of Greene & Co.

‘Outside space can add 10% to the value of a home. The current housing shortage, combined with a dearth in new properties with usable outside space has created intense competition for these homes and as result the majority go to sealed bids,’ he explained.

‘With the hottest summer on record in the capital, this demand is unlikely to subside and we should expect properties with outside space to continue to lead the curve on house price growth,’ he added.

Carillion and Balfour Beatty have made a shock annoucement that they are engaged in preliminary discussions about a possible merger.

The discussion follows an approach from Carillion to Balfour Beatty. The boards of the two companies said that they believe that the merger of the two groups has the potential to create a market-leading services, investments and construction business of considerable depth and scale.

Balfour Beatty currently stands at number 1 in TCI's latest list of the top 100 construction companies, with a turnover of £10.9bn. Carillion is in second place with a turnover of £4.4bn. Their combined turnover of more than £15bn is almost identical to the rest of the top 10 combined.

Work is now under way to develop a strategy and outline business plan for a combined entity.

The boards of Carillion and Balfour Beatty said that they would only proceed with a merger if both were to conclude due diligence to their satisfaction; and if both were to recommend the merger to their shareholders.

No final decision has been reached regarding the structure of any merger. Under the City code on takeovers and mergers, both Balfour Beatty and Carillion will be treated as offeree companies.

The code gives them until 5pm on 21 August 2014 to either announce a firm intention to undertake a transaction or announce that they do not intend to do so.

Balfour Beatty’s previously annouced sale process for Parsons Brinckerhoff will proceed unaffected by the announcement.

Eight out of 10 landlords in the UK believe that the new immigration legislation which comes into force in October 2014, places too much responsibility on them, a new study shows.

Some 43% of landlords are not confident about making the checks that will be required by the legislation, while 30% said they are optimistic that they will cope with the new checks, according to the research by the Online Letting Agents.

When it comes to selecting new tenants, nearly half of landlords say they will be much more wary taking on tenants that they think might be immigrants.

Despite reassurances that landlords will not be responsible for illegal ‘ghost’ tenants that are living in their property, 11% of landlords are still worried that they will be responsible for any illegal tenants subletting.

‘The new legislation will be a big burden on both letting agents and landlords and there is no way around it. The industry needs to take these changes seriously as landlords and agents will face heavy fines if they fall foul of the law,’ said Eleanor Carroll, director of the Online Letting Agents.

‘Landlords and agents will need all the help they can get to integrate the new checks and validations into their overall tenant application process. Not surprisingly, there are a number of companies now offering immigration checking services,’ she pointed out.

She explained that if agents and landlords make the initial immigration checks part of the referencing process and then carry out ongoing checks on visa status, they will be compliant with the law.

‘The danger is that agents and landlords will refuse potential tenants if they believe them to be immigrants. This could lead to a housing shortage for a growing segment of the population,’ said Carroll.

‘There are a number of referencing agencies, such as Legal 4 Landlords, that are preparing for the new legislation. Landlords and agents will be well supported by the industry, as immigration checks become a standard as part of the referencing procedure,’ she added.

Residential land sales in Australia fell by 4.7% between the March 2013 and March 2014 quarters, according to the latest land report.

However, over the six months to March 2014, residential land sales were still up by 5.9% when compared to the six month period to March 2013, the latest HIA-RP data shows.

In the March 2014 quarter the weighted median price of residential lots increased by 2% to $205,248, marking only the second time the value has exceeded the $200,000 threshold. Capital city lot prices increased by 3.3% in the quarter to be up by 7.5% compared to the March 2013 quarter.

The land report also shows that lot prices in regional Australia eased by 0.7% in the March quarter this year to be up by 2.4% in annual terms.

According to RP Data’s research director, Tim Lawless, the early peak in land sales is likely to dampen expectations that investment in new housing construction will help to support Australia’s economic transition away from resources related infrastructure projects.

‘Policy makers were placing a great deal of importance on renewed levels of housing construction to act as a new pillar for economic expansion. While there has been uplift in approvals and new housing starts, the trend towards fewer land sales since September last year suggests that the housing construction cycle, at least for detached housing, is close to peaking,’ Lawless explained.

‘The ongoing rise in land prices at a time when sales are falling is a worry, particularly in Sydney where the number of sales over the March quarter was about level with the previous year but the median price of land has moved 5.6% higher over the year,’ he added.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale pointed out that there is a close relationship between residential land sales and detached house starts. ‘The indication is that the upcycle in detached housing will peak during 2014. This prospect further highlights the key swing variable role the multi-unit sector will play in determining the eventual magnitude and duration of the current new home construction cycle,’ he noted.

‘On the price side of the land equation, an acceleration in the growth rate for capital cities in the March 2014 quarter is of concern. The upward trajectory for residential land prices since the middle of last year is steeper than it should be. There is clearly a policy failure this cycle, as in many before it, to ensure a supply of shovel ready land commensurate with the demand for new housing,’ he added.

There has been a lot of talk about the London property market slowing but new research suggests that properties in Greater London and the South West are currently receiving the highest number of viewings in the country.

The average number of viewings per property in both Greater London and the South West is 13, a 10% increase year on year. This is seven more viewings than the average for Britain which currently stands at six, according to research by independent estate agents network Move with Us.

Properties in the East Midlands are at the other end of the spectrum, selling after an average of just four viewings. The East Midlands is the best performing region in the country when comparing viewings with offers. Each property in the region has on average four viewings and two offers, making the ratio 2:1. This indicates buyers in the East Midlands are serious contenders, have done their research and choose carefully which properties they want to view before proceeding.

‘In fast paced property markets such as Greater London where the average selling time is just 47 days, viewing numbers tend to be higher because there is a large number of potential buyers fighting for a limited number of properties,’ said Robin King, director at Move with Us.

‘Rapid selling times mean buyers have less time to make well thought out decisions about which properties to visit and tend to view properties they wouldn’t normally consider as soon as they come on the market. This increases the viewings to offer ratio,’ he added.

King explained that the ideal situation is for a seller to have a handful of viewings from qualified, carefully selected buyers whose property wish lists are a close match who then go on to make an offer.

‘Receiving plenty of viewings but no offers is the worst case scenario for a seller as this will not achieve the goal of selling the property, will take up lots of time and can be an emotional rollercoaster,’ said King.

‘Viewings cost time and money for both sellers and estate agents. If a property has lots of interest, holding an open day is a great way to help sell it in the current market. They usually get the viewing process over in one day, meaning the seller only has to clean and tidy the property once,’ he pointed out.

‘The seller can even go out for the day, leaving the property in the capable hands of the estate agent. The heightened sense of competition between the buyers during open days can increase the chances of an offer being made on the property,’ he added.

Capital growth during the first half of the year has been strong for British farm land, especially for the best quality, but it likely to be more muted in the second half of the year.The average growth for prime arable land across Britain was 9.8%, almost four times that recorded for prime central London residential property which was 2.5% for the same period, according to the latest research from Savills.

‘This growth has led to a reforecast for values this year, although we do expect the increase in farmland values to be more muted during the second half of the year. Our forecasts for 2015 to 2018 are unchanged,’ said Ian Bailey head of rural research.

In England, supply during the first half of 2014 increased just 3%, to around 59,500 acres, compared with the same period in 2013. However, there were significant regional variations.

Activity increased considerably in the East of England with growth of 87% and the South West with growth of 43%, although in both regions supply was particularly low last year.

The largest falls in supply were recorded in the North of England with a decline of 45% and the South East, down 17%, while in Scotland, supply has been similar to the same period of 2013, up just 1%, and in Wales supply fell by 24%.

In England average growth for prime arable farmland increased by 10.4% during the first half of 2014 to £9,500 per acre.

The strongest growth was recorded in the West Midlands at 18% and the East of England at 13.5%. Farmland values across Scotland remained unchanged and across Wales prime average arable values increased by 3.6%.

‘Interestingly, growth for the poorest quality land has also outperformed our expectations and may indicate that the upturn in the residential markets is already having a positive effect on the residential farms market which are often smaller livestock farms,’ said Alex Lawson head of farms and estates at Savills.

‘Our analysis of farm transactions indicates that during the first half of the year there was more selling activity by non-farming land owners than farmers. In addition our research indicates reduced selling activity from the corporate and institutional landowners. In fact, the figures suggest that net activity of these land owners appears to have shifted towards buying rather than selling,’ he explained.

He also pointed out that there appears to be an increase in ‘retirement’ related sales, these include those leaving farming and downsizing to a smaller unit. ‘Our analysis shows that these are all farmers, who are close to or have reached retirement age. This suggests they may be using the strength of the market to maximise the opportunities presented by the capital value of their assets,’ he added.

Housing associations have been setting out their plans to spend funding allocations published this week by the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) and Greater London Authority (GLA).

The initial allocations have been made under the HCA’s 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme, following a competitive bidding process for £1.7bn of government funding.

Network Housing Group is set to receive nearly £32.5m of affordable homes grant funding, which will used to deliver a total of 317 new affordable homes across Hertfordshire and 873 across London using the funding. Network will also build 600 homes for sale during the programme period.

Raglan Housing has secured £8.6m in grant funding, matching its bid for 450 grant-funded new homes. The additional money, which equates to around £20,000 per home, will be split across Raglan’s operating areas where, over the next three years, the association will deliver 280 affordable new homes in the South and South West; 127 properties in the East and South East, and 43 properties in the Midlands.

Enforcement agencies are being urges to work more closely with Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) schemes in the UK in order to crack down on rogue activity from fraudulent landlords and letting agents.

The call comes after the Mydeposits scheme helped prevent over £300,000 worth of tenancy deposits being fraudulently stolen, working closely with enforcement agencies to bring the case to light.

The firm’s chief executive officer Eddie Hooker said that if it wasn’t for their intervention the case in question might not have been brought to justice.

‘It was down to the information, hard work and doggedness that brought these people to justice. We do a lot of work behind the scenes to catch rogue landlords and fraudulent letting agents but often we’re made out to be the bad guys,’ he pointed out.

He explained that over recent years the firm has developed a very comprehensive and effective approach to identifying members who try to bend the rules. ‘We work closely with Police and Trading Standard’s Officers in England and Wales as they seek to understand how the different TDP schemes operate and then obtain sufficient evidence against rogue businesses,’ said Hooker.

‘We caught this case early due to our robust auditing and compliance processes and immediately alerted the police and enforcement agencies. We had to keep pushing the case as initially no one was interested in taking it forward. However, due to our actions no one lost out and all the money was returned,’ he explained.

Mydeposits will continue to work and help those who want to abide by the law and catch those who would otherwise still be free were it not for the support that we have provided to law enforcement agencies,’ he added.

This case comes after Mydeposits forwarded evidence to Milton Keynes Trading Standards last year which helped convict a letting agent who was given an 11 month jail sentence after admitting 25 counts of fraud involving landlords and tenants.
There are over a dozen other cases still underway pending prosecution where Mydeposits are providing support and assistance.

The police have closed the M6 southbound near Sandbach services because of a possibly unsafe bridge.

The Manor Road and Reynolds Lane bridge runs over the motorway. Local reports say that the closure is due to a piece of material falling from the bridge and hitting a car.

The police have closed the southbound carriageway at junctions 17 and 18, with the northbound remaining open at present. The closure was announced in police tweets at about 6am. No estimate has been given for when it will reopen, but the police reported at about 8.30am that a bridge inspector was on the scene.

Costain Limited has been issued with fines and costs totalling more than £615,000 following the death of a worker when a telehandler overturned during the construction of the Parkway development in Newbury.

Mark Williams, 41, from Nuneham Courtenay, was using the vehicle to lift a pallet of tiles to a fourth-storey roof when the incident happened on 20 July 2011. He tried to flee the telehandler as it began to topple, but he was unable to move away in time and it landed on top of him, causing fatal crush injuries.

His death was investigated by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which found the safety of the vehicle was compromised by limited space and other obstructions in the area where he was required to work.

Costain Limited, the principal contractor for the Parkway development, was prosecuted for failing to provide a safer system of work.

Reading Court heard during a five week trial earlier this year (from 3rd March 2014) that Mr Williams, a married father-of-two, was part of a team responsible for tiling a number of roofs. He was operating the telehandler with the boom fully raised but not extended. Raising the boom reduced the overall length of the vehicle, however it ultimately caused it to overbalance as it was being turned and manoeuvred.

HSE inspectors established that Mr Williams had no option but to operate the vehicle in this way. The space between the buildings where he worked was almost the same length of the telehandler with the boom lowered, and meant he would have had no turning circle.

The court was told the vehicle was not suited for use in this area, and that had the space constraints been properly assessed and a better system of work put in place then Mr Williams death could have been avoided.

Costain Limited, of Costain House, Vanwall Business Park, Maidenhead, was fined a total of £525,000 and ordered to pay a further £90,577 in costs after being found guilty of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and two breaches of Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

After sentencing HSE principal inspector Steve Hull said: “This was a tragic and entirely preventable death. Mark Williams was required to use a telehandler that was wholly unsuited to the confined area he worked in.

“He had no option but to raise the boom so he could turn the vehicle, and in doing so he critically undermined the stability, resulting in the inevitable overturn.

“He should have been provided with alternative, more appropriate equipment and a better system of work. Costain had clear responsibilities to ensure that happened, but they failed to properly assess the risks and ultimately failed Mr Williams.”

Shenda Long, Mark’s mother, added: “I have always felt that I have lived a very privileged and happy life, but all that changed on 20 July 2011 when police officers knocked on our door and informed me that our beloved son had been killed. Mark was a loving son, brother, partner, friend and an amazing dad to his two daughters who brought sunshine, happiness, joy, laughter and love into our family.

“Little did we know that fateful day that it would be the last morning we would feel peaceful, happy and complete. How could we know that the simple act of Mark going to work, as he done every day for years, would result in him being killed, and my family’s world ending. Mark was totally let down by the people he worked for and trusted.”

Mr Williams’ employer, Attley’s Roofing Limited, was earlier cleared of identical health and safety breaches at the end of the initial trial on 3 April. The company, of Spital Farm, Thorpe Mead, Banbury, was acquitted after being jointly prosecuted by HSE alongside Costain.

Costain has previous when it comes to vehicle-related deaths on its sites. In March 2012 the company was fined £250,000 after Richard Caddock, a 38-year-old surveyor, was killed by a reversing lorry on an M25 widening project in Kent. (See previous report here.)

PC Harrington as appointed former Skanska UK managing director Dave Shadwell into the role of business development director.

The move is part of a wider business re-structuring that saw Duncan Salt promoted to group managing director in April (link opens in new tab). The appointment of Salt allows CEO and chairman Pat Harrington to focus on repositioning the company.

PJ Harrington has been appointed as MD of PC Harrington Contractors, supported by contracts directors Brian Wakefield and Tony Collier. Other appointments include Gary Shaw (MD – Slipform International), Dave Holder (MD – HTC Plant), Roger Stables (MD – Structural Systems), John Boyle (group plant and transport director) and Tony McGann into the role of group commercial director, replacing Andy Wood who is now the MD of Harrington Group Middle East.

Existing home sales in the United States increased 2.5% in June and reached an annual pace of five million sales for the first time since October 2013, according to the latest index from the National Association of Realtors.

The median existing home price for all housing types in June was $223,300, which is 4.3% above June 2013. This marks the 28 th consecutive month of year on year price gains, the index shows.

It also says that rising inventory continues to push overall supply towards a more balanced market, but sales remain 2.3% below the 5.16 million unit level a year ago.

‘Inventories are at their highest level in over a year and price gains have slowed to much more welcoming levels in many parts of the country,’ said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

‘This bodes well for rising home sales in the upcoming months as consumers are provided with more choices. On the contrary, new home construction needs to rise by at least 50% for a complete return to a balanced market because supply shortages, particularly in the West, are still putting upward pressure on prices,’ he explained.

He also noted that stagnant wage growth is holding back what should be a stronger pace of sales. ‘Hiring has been a bright spot in the economy this year, adding an average of 230,000 jobs each month. However, the lack of wage increases is leaving a large pool of potential homebuyers on the side lines who otherwise would be taking advantage of low interest rates. Income growth below price appreciation will hurt affordability,’ he added.

Total housing inventory at the end of June rose 2.2% to 2.3 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.5 month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from May. Unsold inventory is 6.5% higher than a year ago, when there were 2.16 million existing homes available for sale.

The data shows that distressed homes, that is foreclosures and short sales, accounted for 11% of June sales, down from 15% in June 2013. Some 8% of June sales were foreclosures and 3% were short sales. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 20% below market value in June, while short sales were discounted 11%.

The percent share of first time buyers continues to underperform historically, rising slightly to 28% in June from 27% in May, but remain at an overall average of 28% over the past year.

Properties sold faster for the sixth consecutive month in June, highlighting the fact that inventory is still lagging relative to demand. The median time on market for all homes was 44 days in June, down from 47 days in May. It was 37 days on market in June 2013. Short sales were on the market for a median of 120 days in June, while foreclosures sold in 54 days and non-distressed homes typically took 42 days. Some 42% of homes sold in June were on…

The UK government’s affordable homes programme will change the way properties are built in the country with many being constructed using advanced housing techniques, it has been announced.

Successful bids for almost 62,000 homes under the first phase of the £23 billion programme have been confirmed and overall it will deliver 165,000 new affordable homes over three years from 2015.

A fifth of the homes will be built with cutting edge advanced housing manufacturing where parts are made in factories before being assembled on site. This technique is widely used on the continent, but currently only plays a limited role in British house building.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said the focus on new technology would provide high quality homes, and help the sector achieve the fastest rate of affordable house building for 20 years.

He explained that a total of 191 providers have been earmarked for funding and the new homes will be delivered across England, with almost a third in London. ‘House building is an essential part of this government’s long term economic plan. That’s why we have designed an ambitious new scheme to build affordable homes at the fastest rate for 20 years, which will support 165,000 jobs in construction and sustain thousands of small businesses,’ he said.

The investment from government will be combined with private finance to deliver the £23 billion programme. Lewis added that by putting in more private sector funding than previous programmes, the scheme will achieve a better deal for taxpayers.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said that building more affordable homes is an important part of ensuring every family has the opportunity to live in a decent home.

‘By investing billions into new housing and cutting out burdensome planning regulations, we are building more affordable homes per year than at any time in 20 years and are also supporting job creation across the country,’ he added.

According to Homes and Communities Agency chief executive Andy Rose described it as ‘a solid delivery programme that will ensure a smooth transition from our current affordable homes programme, and that delivery can start promptly’.

‘The allocations are closely aligned with locally identified priorities and offer value for money and increased certainty of delivery, with over 75% of the homes we are funding on firm schemes,’ he added.

Housing associations, councils and developers that have applied for funding have been required to demonstrate they are delivering new homes that are in short supply in their local area. Of the successful bids so far, 77% have been for one and two bedroom homes, so that smaller households can move to more suitably-sized accommodation.

The affordable homes programme includes affordable rented homes and affordable home ownership schemes and is being managed by the Homes and Communities Agency nationally and in London managed and allocated by Greater London Authority and the Mayor.

The majority of European office rental markets either saw a boost or remained static in the first half of 2014, led by Germany and Holland.

Overall Europe’s leasing market reported positive growth across 17 major office markets as the Eurozone economy continued its recovery drive with improved sentiment across the region, according to Colliers International’s latest EMAE office report.

Prime rents in 85% of office markets across Europe and the Middle East reported a boost in the last six months or remained static, the report confirms.

Most notably, the office market in Germany saw the strongest growth, with prime CBD rents in Stuttgart leaping 25%. Munich also reported rental increase for the seventh consecutive half since the second half of 2010.

Amsterdam also reported an upward trajectory of rents over the last 18 months, underscoring the recovery of its prime office district amid an increasing gap between primary and secondary markets in the Netherlands.

The investment market was also a positive story for Amsterdam, which saw prime yields moving in by 40 bps compared to end 2013, along with a sharp increase in investment volumes.

‘The progressive results in rents are a result of a combination of economic improvements and greater confidence in the European occupier markets, especially the UK and Germany. This is combined with a generalised lack of modern space available in central business districts due to low volumes of new speculative completions,’ said Bruno Beretta, senior research analyst for EMEA at Colliers International.

Even Southern European markets like Madrid and Lisbon, with the former experiencing a particularly severe correction since 2009, have seen prime rents move ahead. Lisbon reported an annual rental increase of 1.4% in the first six months of 2014.

Despite these increases, a more sustainable recovery of occupational markets in Southern Europe is not expected until the end of this year, or more probably 2015.

‘Increasing demand by media and tech occupiers across EMEA, together with the shortage of new supply have created a climate for sharp rental growth in many European markets, both at headline levels and for average second hand accommodation,’ said Craig Satchwell, head of EMEA offices at Colliers International.

‘Media and Tech companies are the second most active when it comes to take up, with a 21% share of take up across London, Paris, Amsterdam and the big six German cities combined,’ he added.

The Colliers report shows that the European Central Bank’s recent moves, the weight of capital now targeting European real estate and rental growth expectations contributed, in most instances, to stable or falling office yields in the first half of 2014.

As a result, these factors have led to an upgraded perception of the European investment market. Given current high levels of interest in many major European markets, yield compression was observed in many peripheral markets like Dublin with a fall of 75 bps, Madrid down 50 bps, Barcelona down 25 bps) and Athens down 25 bps.

Prime yields hardened in a number of cities…

The £15.8bn Crossrail project is a ‘textbook example’ of how to deliver a major construction project on time and on budget, says the House of Commons public accounts committee.

The public accounts committee is more often seen lambasting government departments for getting things wrong, with high profile chair Margaret Hodge seen issuing severe judgment with perfect 20/20 hindsight.

With high praise being issue, it was left to Conservative MP Richard Bacon to do the talking for the committee. "Major, complex infrastructure projects are notoriously difficult to deliver on time and in budget. With Crossrail we see a textbook example of how to get things right," he said. "Happily, this means Crossrail – a £15.8bn programme in total – is on course to deliver value for money to the taxpayer.”

He continued: “The joint sponsors of the Crossrail programme, the Department for Transport and Transport for London, are working well with the delivery organisation, Crossrail Limited, to deliver the programme, which at present is broadly on schedule and being delivered within budget.

“The team has focussed on the essentials of programme management, including defining a realistic scope, establishing a management team with the necessary skills and securing the required funding. Two years were spent on planning before construction began, and roles and relationships were clearly established.

“The Department should capture the lessons it has learned from the Crossrail programme and apply these to its other projects, most notably High Speed 2.”

If there is a lesson it is that the benefit of the project to London was underestimated at the outset. It was given a 2:1 benefit to cost ratio, when in fact it is more like 3:1, if wider economic impact is taken into account. The committee said that the government could have got more money out of private sector organisations that will benefit from the new transport link.

Mr Bacon concluded: “Construction of Crossrail is not yet complete, and considerable risks remain in delivering the programme by 2019, particularly managing the transition from building the railway to operating it, and delivering the Crossrail trains. So far, though, the signs are good."

The full report can be seen at Parliament.uk.

The average home in Britain is now worth £260,488, up £16,265 since start of the year with Salford seeing the largest rise in property values, according to the latest data from Zoopla.

London property values grew fastest during first half of year at 8.2% or £43,115 whiles Scottish property values increased only 1.1% compared with a national average of 6.5%, the data also shows.

It means that the average British home has increased in value by £90 a day but the star was the Manchester suburb of Salford where average property values have risen 12% and now stand at £138,619, a growth rate that eclipses even London.

Although average house prices in the capital, which currently stand at £567,392 according to Zoopla, are more than four times higher than in Salford.

Brough in Yorkshire and St Leonards-On-Sea in East Sussex have also seen strong growth in average property values over the last six months at 11.9% and 11.8% respectively.

‘Home owners up and down the country are starting to see the benefits of the recovery as home values make further headway in 2014,’ said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.

‘Over the past few years Salford especially has prospered from job creation in the area which has helped boost the local property market. Property price growth has largely been a London and South East story until recently, so it is very encouraging to see the house price recovery broadening and the ripple effect starting to take hold further north,’ he explained.

‘There have been a few weak spots in the market so far in 2014, like Cornwall where the strong pound has started turning those looking for holiday homes back towards foreign property markets. And towns on the England/Scotland border are likely suffering from caution amongst buyers ahead of the referendum on independence in September,’ he added.

A two-week site blitz of 560 construction sites by the Health & Safety Executive has resulted in 35% of them being issued with a bill for the privilege under the Fees For Intervention scheme (FFI).

A total of 239 health-related notices of contravention were served at 201 of the sites. An HSE spokesman confirmed that these notices generate an FFI invoice. He explained that a notice of contravention is issued where there has been a material breach of health and safety law but not so bad as to require a prohibition notice or an improvement notice.

Collectively called enforcement notices, prohibition or improvement notices were issued at one in six sites – 85 in total. At 13 sites, safety breaches were so bad that inspectors issued prohibition notices putting an immediate stop to work.

Growing speculation around an interest rate rise and uncertainty over the outcome of next May’s general election and possible tax changes are having an impact on the prime property market in outer London, a new analysis suggests.

The results has been a fall in new buyer registrations and an increase in new properties coming onto the market, according to the research by property firm Knight Frank.

It reports that new buyer registrations are down by a fifth and new supply up by a third in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2013.

‘To some extent, buyers have also become more restrained after a period of relatively strong price growth with sealed bids and open days becoming less prevalent, explained Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank.

However, he pointed out that whatever the validity of buyers’ concerns about the sustainability of price inflation, it is worth highlighting that annual growth in prime outer London residential prices only exceeded 5% a year ago and moved into double digits in January this year.

The amount of available stock in prime outer London in June was 19% higher than June last year and at its highest overall level in more than five years. Annual growth in prime outer London was 12.1% in the year to June after a monthly rise of 1%, which compares to 8.1% in prime central London.

‘There is an overlap of factors causing demand to slow in both markets but the prospect of an interest rate rise is likely to play a stronger role in prime outer London,’ said Bill.

Wandsworth and Clapham recorded the highest annual growth of 17.2% followed by 15.8% in Canary Wharf.

‘There are tentative signs the prime outer London rentals market will benefit from softening demand in the sales market. It is an emerging trend in the prime central London market as the economy stabilises and companies expand,’ explained Bill.

The report also shows that rental values grew 0.7% in June, which was the highest monthly increase since the index was produced on a monthly basis in April 2011.

It mirrored a similar record monthly jump in prime central London in June but growth still remains more erratic in outer London and was 0.4% down over the second quarter and 0.5% down over the last year.

The Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) has set out its spending plans that indicate support for more than 40,000 new homes by 2018.

The HCA said that 160 housing providers across England would share £886m of affordable homes funding.

A total of 43,821 new affordable homes will be delivered across 2,697 schemes.

The initial allocations have been made under the HCA’s 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme, following a competitive bidding process for funding.

The funding allocated comprises just over half of the total £1.7bn of funding available. The remaining funding will be made available for providers to bid into the HCA in due course via continuous market engagement (CME), as planned, to allow housing providers further opportunity to work up schemes for delivery by 2018.

The government’s target is for 165,000 new affordable homes to be built by March 2018.

HCA Chief Executive Andy Rose said: “We have set in place a solid delivery programme that will ensure a smooth transition from our current affordable homes programme, and that delivery can start promptly.”

He added: “Just over half of the available funding has been allocated. The remaining funding will be allocated on a continuous market engagement basis, giving even more partners time to work up deliverable bids to meet local needs and their future development aspirations.

“This is a strong foundation that we are putting in place today, which puts us on track to make a significant contribution towards government’s aspirations for up to 165,000 new affordable homes by March 2018, while supporting overall housing supply and local economic growth.”

Brett Concrete has manufactured the last of the 250,000 concrete segments that have been produced to line the tunnels of London’s Crossrail project.

The final piece was cast at a specially-built Crossrail factory in Chatham, Kent.

This factory has produced 110,000 tunnel segments to line Crossrail’s 12km long eastern twin tunnels, from east London to Farringdon. Segments for the western tunnels from Royal Oak to Paddington were manufactured at a separate facility at Old Oak Common. Segments for the Thames Tunnel between Plumstead and North Woolwich were manufactured in Ireland.

At peak, the Chatham factory operated 24 hours a day, five days per week and on average manufactured 330 segments per day. Each segment weighs 3.4 tonnes. Seven segments and a key stone form a complete tunnel ring in the new Crossrail eastern tunnels, which are being built by joint venture Dragados Sisk.

Crossrail chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme said: “Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project with an immense supply chain spread across the country. The team at Chatham have done a superb job supplying our eastern tunnels with concrete segments.”

Pictured below are tunnel lining segments waiting to be shipped out from the Chatham factory and taken up the Thames by barge to site.

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The amount of government grant available for solid wall insulation has been cut by a third.

The Department of Energy & Climate Change says the cuts are necessary because the scheme is so successful.

The Green Deal home improvement fund has seen more than £43m worth of vouchers issued in the first six weeks, and more than £50m applied for.

12,200 applications have been received and 7,925 households in England and Wales have received vouchers under the scheme, which offers people money back for making energy saving improvements to their home.

From Friday 25th July, new applicants can receive up to £4,000 for installing Solid Wall Insulation, reduced from £6,000. Flue gas heat recovery units will be removed from the list of approved measures from Tuesday 5th August.

Energy minister Amber Rudd said: “Changes announced today ensure even more households can benefit from warmer homes using less energy.”

The Green Deal home improvement fund also entitles those who have bought a property in the 12 months prior to application to qualify for up to an additional £500 if they carry out recommended energy efficiency improvements under the scheme.

In December 2013, the government announced a £540m three-year energy efficiency package with at least £120m available for energy efficiency schemes from April 2015.

From Friday 25th July, Green Deal Home Improvement Fund domestic energy customers can get:

• up to £1,000 for installing two measures from an approved list; and/or
• up to £4,000 for installing solid wall insulation; and
• up to £100 refunded for their Green Deal assessment.

The dangers of farmers who think construction safety laws don’t apply to them was highlighted by a case at Aberystwyth Magistrates Court yesterday (Monday 21st July).

The Health & Safety Executive prosecuted two brothers, Andrew Evans and his brother, David Evans, for breaches of construction safety on their farm.

Their negligence resulted in a contractor suffering serious brain injuries in a fall while carrying out building work.

The contractor was installing a floor over a slurry lagoon in a new barn at Gwarllwyn Farm, near Llandysul on 12 June 2012 when the floor panel he and a workman were standing on gave way, plunging them into the lagoon four metres below.

The court heard that the contractor was hired to create a cattle shed floor over an existing slurry lagoon. He erected concrete pillars in the slurry pit then put preformed concrete beams on top and laid concrete wall panels across the beams instead of panels specifically designed for flooring. These were to hold a slatted floor and cattle cubicles.

As the contractor and another workman were standing on one of the panels, it gave way, plunging them into the lagoon. The contractor suffered a head injury and was hospitalised for two month and he is still undergoing rehabilitation. The workman escaped without injury.

HSE found the two farmers had failed to appoint a construction design and management (CDM) co-ordinator. The brothers also did not have a principal contractor so had assumed that role, giving them the responsibility for planning, managing and monitoring the health and safety aspects of the construction work.

However, no design or construction plans existed and there was no risk assessment or agreed safe system of work. They also failed to check the contractor was suitably competent to do the work. The wall panels he used were unsuitable and the workmen he employed on site had no training or experience in construction.

In addition, the brothers allowed the contractor to use an untrained crane driver, using a 25 tonne capacity crane that had gone without the required annual thorough examination for 10 ten years.

They also failed to supervise or monitor the construction work, which involved a lot of working at height. There were no suitable measures to prevent or mitigate any effects of a fall.

Andrew Evans, of Gwarllwyn Farm, Rhydlewis, Llandysul and David Evans of Esgair Tangwst, Rhydlewis each pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations and were each fined a total of £9,000. Each was also ordered to pay costs of £3,560.

HSE inspector Phil Nicolle said after the hearing: “Farmers cannot ignore their legal duties for health and safety when arranging construction work on their farms. The contractor in this case suffered life-threatening injuries and has yet to make a full recovery.

“The Evans brothers were undertaking a major construction project and failed to make the crucial appointment of a construction design and management co-ordinator to advise them on their responsibilities and how to manage the project safely. They took on the responsibilities of a principal contractor for planning, managing and monitoring the health and safety aspects of the construction work, and in all these respects they failed significantly.

“If farmers use contractors for any work they simply cannot tell them what to do and let them get on with it. Both the client and the contractor have legal duties for health and safety that can’t be passed to each other by contract. This means they have to work with each other to make sure the job is done safely. Farmers must always question their contractors about their health and safety arrangements.”

Seasonally adjusted estimates for the number of residential property transactions in the UK decreased by 0.2% between May and June, according to the latest figures from HMRC

June’s sales figure is also 15.7% higher compared to the same month last year while the trend since the beginning of 2013/2014 has been of a general month on month increase in transactions, this halted in February.

The HMRC report says that since February there has been a gradual decrease followed by a flattening out of transaction numbers.

Recent non-seasonally-adjusted transactions peaked in June 2014 and November 2013 at similar levels, both being the highest levels since November 2007 but it must be remembered that the figures for the two most recent months are provisional and therefore subject to revision.

Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, pointed out that the figures shows that the UK property market is singing a different tune to that heard at the start of this year. ‘The fierce competition for properties and unprecedented house price growth has subsided as a new wave of supply has come onto the market, stabilising price rises and restoring normality to trading conditions,’ he said.

‘Both buyers and sellers alike are benefitting from this new calmness in the market, with a greater array of available property to choose from and slightly slower pace of activity making stepping onto the ladder or trading up a less daunting prospect,’ he explained.

‘The implementation of tighter lending criteria and affordability checks has lengthened the borrowing process and cooled the market during this transitional phase. This wave of regulatory change will ensure lasting sustainability and responsibility of growth, but the government and the Bank of England need to be careful that future interventions are not premature and overzealous. Beyond the capital, the housing market recovery still requires a watchful eye,’ he added.

According to Jonathan Hudson of West End estate agent Hudsons Property in London, the property market is cooling but still strong. ‘We are still achieving top prices but some of the urgency has subsided. Certain measures put in place, like the overseas buyers capital gains tax and potential interest rate rises have not really affected the market,’ he said.

‘However, tighter lending criteria have slowed increases and buyers are being more considered before offering. This is also allowing more property to reach the market, giving buyers more choice,’ he added.

Few residential properties were sold in Cyprus in the first quarter of 2014, mainly due to the prevailing economic conditions, according to the latest index from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Due to this and the turbulence in Cyprus’ banking system there was a sharp reduction in interest from buyers and those interested were unable to access bank finance or their deposits, the report says.

An increase in unemployment, further decreases in salaries also had an impact on the Mediterranean island’s property market but the report says there were also signs of the Cyprus economy stabilising.

Overall the Cyprus Property Price Index recorded falls in almost all cities and asset classes, with significant falls being recorded in Nicosia and Limassol.

‘Nicosia is clearly feeling the impact on the government and banking sector, the two sectors who dominate the local employment market, whilst other cities are progressively bottoming out,’ the report points out.

Across Cyprus, residential prices for both houses and flats fell by 1.4% and 2.6% respectively, with the biggest drop being in Famagusta where the price of houses declined by 4% and flats by 9.3%.

Values of retail properties fell by an average of 1.7%, whilst those of offices and warehouses fell by 1.4% and 0.9% respectively.

It means that compared to the first quarter of 2013, prices for flats have gone down by 10.7%, and houses by 7.8%. In the commercial property sector retail property has fallen by 14.8% year on year, offices by 10.4% and warehouses by 11.4%.
Across Cyprus, on a quarterly basis rental values for apartments decreased by 1.4%, house rentals by 1.6%, retail units by 1.2%, warehouses by 3.1% and offices by 1.2%.

Year on year apartment rents have fallen by 11.3%, houses by 12.6%, retail property by 23.3%, warehouses by 14% and offices by 15.4%.

‘The majority of asset classes and geographies continue to be affected, with areas that had dropped the most early on in the property cycle now nearing the trough, the report adds.

It also shows that at the end of the first quarter of 2014 average gross yields stood at 3.9% for apartments, 1.9% for houses, 5.3% for retail, 4.4% for warehouses, and 4.3% for offices.

‘The parallel reduction in capital values and rents is keeping investment yields relatively stable and at very low levels compared to yields overseas. This suggests that there is still room for re-pricing of capital values to take place,’ the report concludes.

Almost all landlords in the UK report that tenant demand is currently stable or growing, according to the latest quarterly survey from specialist buy to let lender Paragon Mortgages.

Landlords also reported an average yield across their rental portfolio of 6.2% in the second quarter of the year, a slight increase on the previous quarter when the average was 6.1%. The average yield has remained around this level for the past 12 months.

In the second quarter 38% of landlords said that they were feeling more optimistic about the prospects for their rental portfolios. Some 56% stated that there had been no change in their views, and just 4% said they were feeling pessimistic about prospects.

Looking ahead, 16% of landlords are planning to add to their rental portfolios during the third quarter.

The survey also shows that there has been no change in the types of property landlords are planning to invest in, with terraced houses remaining the most popular with 55% of those expecting to buy choosing this property type.

There has been a slight increase in popularity of detached houses, with 15% of landlords expecting to buy this property type compared to 12% last quarter.

Some 72% of landlords said that they thought rental arrears levels would remain stable in the next year, only 11% expect levels to increase. Overall, the feedback from landlords suggests that only marginal movement in tenant arrears is predicted.

‘It is interesting to see the improvement in confidence amongst landlords in the private rented sector. We are seeing much more activity in the private rented sector and, in turn, the buy to let market as a result of continuing strong rental demand and the investments made by landlords,’ said John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages.

‘Tenant demand is clearly staying very healthy, and this is likely to remain a common trend over the coming months, particularly as we are still not seeing the level of house building that the wider housing market so desperately needs,’ he explained.

Vinci subsidiary Nuvia has been handed the tricky tasks of taking down the tallest chimney stack at the Sellafield nuclear plant.

The 61m chimney sits on top of the 11-storey First Generation Reprocessing Plant, standing 122m high in total.

It is right in the centre of one of the busiest areas of the site, so cannot just be knocked down or blown up. Instead it will be surgically dismantled using a special platform, a process that will take several years to complete. Some 600 tonnes of concrete and rebar and more than 25 tonnes of stainless steel will be removed, bit by bit.

Project manager Matthew Hodgson said: “The job of bringing down the stack is going to be a delicate operation to ensure 100% safety of all personnel and surrounding nuclear plants.  We have employed Nuvia Limited who has been working with us and a number of other contractors, including Delta Steeplejacks, for the last three years on the demolition scheme.

“Obviously conventional demolition using explosives is not feasible therefore we will use an ingenious self-climbing platform which will bring the chimney down bit by bit in a controlled manner.”

This technique is similar to that being used to bring down the chimneys of Battersea Power Station. 

Mr Hodgson added: “A mini-replica of the tapered chimney will be built to test the methodology as the diameter of the chimney increases the lower you go down, so the platform will correspondingly have to increase in size.  A specialist diamond wire cutting system will be used to remove large sections of the concrete structure and the internal metal flue, all of which will have to be lowered to the base of the stack for monitoring before disposal.”

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Built in the early 1950s the first generation reprocessing plant carried out the first stage of reprocessing fuel from the Windscale Pile Reactors to produce materials for the UK’s Cold War defence programme.  It was later modified as a head end plant for commercial oxide fuels following the opening of the Magnox reprocessing plant 50 years ago. Operations ceased in 1974 and oxide reprocessing was transferred to the Thorp reprocessing plant in 1994.

Recent assessments of the 1950s stack have confirmed that it doesn’t meet modern design standards and its removal is considered a high priority for Sellafield Ltd, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

Work on site will soon begin to install an industrial lift and a roof bridge structure, allowing access to the base of the chimney. The lift and bridge will then be used for the removal of waste materials when demolition starts.

Nuvia is the nuclear division of Soletanche Freyssinet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vinci.

Sellafield Ltd has been owned and operated by Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) since 2008. NMP is a joint venture of URS, Amec and Areva.

Across the UK buyers of prime property are continuing to favour urban locations and homes in cities are now on average just 1.7% below their peak, a new analysis shows.

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%, driven by demand from those relocating from London and downsizers.

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, according to the analysis from real estate firm Savills.

However, the report points out that 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,’ the report says.

It also explains that the prime market is responding to the positive sentiment in the mainstream market, with stock levels increasing as downsizers in particular sense an opportunity to sell into a more buoyant market.

‘However, in some cases, headlines of house price growth are giving sellers a false impression of the value of their property, creating a gap between their expectations and those of the buyers who are sensitive to headlines of interest rate rises and the like,’ it adds.

‘At the top end of the market, there is a threat around the 2015 election, given that taxation of high value properties is high on the political agenda. We expect values to plateau in locations with a high concentration of properties over £2 million as buyers remain cautious. New sellers entering the market should price for these market conditions,’ the report points out.

‘However, assuming there are no further changes to the taxation of high value property, our outlook for the prime regional markets remains positive, with a forecast of 22.7% over the five years to 2018,’ it says.

It also shows that 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%.

Values throughout the commuter zone are now back to, or above, their 2007 peak levels. This quarter saw house prices in the outer commuter zone, a ring of up to one hour’s travel distance from the capital, return to peak for the first time.

However, beyond the commuter zone, prices remain some way below their 2007 peak, despite annual price growth. At the extreme, in Scotland, where the…