£100,000 • Change of use from offices to form 2 No residential flats

£100,000 • Conversion of existing redundant agricultural buildings into three individual residential units

£100,000 • Erection of 2 No. Houses In Garden

£400,000 • Residential development (planning permission in principle)

£200,000 • Conversion of barns to four dwellings (Revised design)

£900,000 • Erection of three additional floors to the building to provide 12 extra flats (1x one-bedroom and 11x two-bedroom)

£14,000,000 • Submission of reserved matters pursuant to outline planning permission 09/50035/TTGOUT for the creation of 185 no. two and three bedroom houses and apartments, plus associated roads, paths, drives, car parking, ancillary structures and landscaping.

Plans for a £200m expansion of Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire have been approved by the secretary of state on appeal.

South Bucks District Council rejected the 100,000-square-metre scheme last year on the grounds that it damaged the green belt and impacted too much on local residents.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles accepted that the development was harmful to the green belt but said that economic growth was more important on this occasion.

“Overall, the secretary of state concludes very special circumstances exist to warrant allowing the inappropriate development, overriding the identified conflict with the development plan,” said the official letter announcing the decision.

Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood Shepperton plc welcomed the result. He said: “Our project builds on the success of the government’s policy for the creative industries and addresses the shortage of stage space in the UK.  As a result of today’s green light from the secretary of state, thousands of much needed new jobs will be created in this growing sector of the economy.  We want to begin construction as soon as possible.”

The expansion project, known as the Pinewood Studios Development Framework (PSDF), will double the existing studios by adding 100,000 square metres of new facilities, including 12 large stages, workshops and production offices.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was also glad to see the plan approved. Matthew Fell, CBI director for competitive markets said: “Pinewood has showcased the best of British film talent on and off screen for decades, so this chance to expand can help boost investment and jobs in the industry. The UK’s creative industries are already world-beaters and make a huge contribution to our economy. Now we need to build on this potential to help them achieve even greater global success.”

While the construction of tram networks has brought expensive headaches for some UK cities, Manchester Metrolink’s new airport extension is set to open a year early, the contractors have announced.

The MPT consortium, comprising VolkerRail, Laing O’Rourke and Thales, said that the new Metrolink line to Wythenshawe and Manchester Airport will open before the end of 2014.

First trams will start to run along part of the route from Monday 23rd June as the first stages of testing and commissioning.

The 14.5km line has seen the construction of several major new structures, including a viaduct over the Mersey Valley, two new bridges over the M60 and M56, and the Ringway Road dual carriageway and underpass at Manchester Airport.

All of the existing highway and street lighting and road signs along the entire route have been renewed and significant urban realm improvements have been made around each of the line’s 15 new stops. Services will initially run between Manchester Airport and Cornbrook, every 12 minutes. They will start to run through the city centre once the Second City Crossing is complete in 2017.

Councillor Andrew Fender, chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) committee, said: “The sheer scale of the challenges this project presented make its early completion a truly phenomenal achievement. To be so far ahead is down to several marginal gains adding up to a significant result: the early delivery of a number of lines allowed us to move resources onto the line earlier; lessons learnt during the early phases of the expansion drove efficiencies across work areas; creating a desktop simulator cut the timescales for driver training in half. These are just a few examples of how, by working closely with local authorities, utility firms, our principal contractor MPT, stakeholders and the operator MRDL, we’ve become an ultra-efficient machine – and this is our collective reward.”

MPT project director Bryan Glass said: “Our team has demonstrated the skills, professionalism and dedication that are increasingly required in British engineering and major project delivery. A planned and strategic approach, applying the latest methodology such as offsite manufacturing of major components, allowed us to make significant savings without compromising safety or quality. There’s a huge amount of pride in us all, knowing the first trams will shortly commence testing, eventually forming this new transport artery for Manchester.”

The airport line will bring the size of the Metrolink network to 92.5km (57.5 miles), serving 92 stops.

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is developing a sustainability standard for new homes that it hopes developers will adopt as a marketing tool.

BRE says the voluntary standard would give house-builders the opportunity to differentiate their product by recognising performance beyond minimum regulation and provide increased choice for consumers.

It is inviting all those involved with building houses as well as consumers to have their say on what should be included in the standard.

The announcement comes in the wake of the recent Department for Communities & Local Government housing standards review (HSR) and subsequent proposed changes to the regulatory landscape. These include the dissolution of the Code for Sustainable Homes and the incorporation of some of its elements into the building regulations.

Gavin Dunn, director of BRE Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREAM) said: “We have our own ideas on the critical issues we need to address in future housing delivery – things like resilience to adverse and extreme weather: flooding, wind, overheating; mental and physical health & wellbeing of occupants, resource efficiency, increased biodiversity, low energy, water and maintenance costs and  improved connectivity. It is essential that the industry and homeowners engage with us so we can develop a tool that people and the industry want to use because it provides increased quality and choice for the consumer, and drives innovation and improvements across the housing supply chain.”

The standard will be developed for the UK and can be adapted for specific local circumstances. It will use an easy to understand, consumer-focused rating system, Mr Dunn said.

He added: “Our remit at BRE has always been to catalyse positive change in the built environment for the benefit of people, the environment and the economy. In the UK we spend a large proportion of our lives in buildings – we must continue to push for better sustainability and quality in our homes. Look at any other sector – automotive, IT, communications – these sectors are continuously improving their products – why should housing be any different?”

The consultation process is open until 25th July 2014. The standard will be ready for roll out next spring, BRE said.

Materials testing specialist Testconsult has been taken over by engineering group James Fisher for £8m.

James Fisher provides a range of technical services to the oil & gas and marine sectors worldwide. Group companies include Strainstall, which supplies strain gauges and load measurement sensors to provide structural monitoring and dynamic load testing of bridges and other structures.

Testconsult, which has offices in Warrington and Harlow, is a market leading provider of monitoring, instrumentation and testing services for both construction materials and structures. It also designs and produces specialist testing equipment that is used worldwide. 

James Fisher said that the acquisition of Testconsult would extend and complement the range of services provided by Strainstall.

Testconsult’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was £1.4m for the year ended 31 March 2014.  Net assets at 31 March 2014 were £2.9m.

James Fisher chief executive Nick Henry said: “We are delighted to welcome Testconsult into the James Fisher group and we look forward to benefitting from the enlarged opportunity which the combination of Strainstall Monitoring and Testconsult will present, expanding our activities in testing and monitoring with complementary skills, products and services.  We intend to build on our combined strengths, particularly in international markets.”

The secretary of state for Wales, David Jones, has called on the Welsh regional government to drop its requirement for all new homes to have sprinklers.

When Steve Morgan, chairman of house-builder Redrow, made the same call three years ago, he was accused of putting profit before lives. But Mr Jones has now placed himself firmly in Morgan’s corner.

In a speech to the annual Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) conference yesterday Mr Jones called for an overhaul of the planning system in Wales, which he said was being bogged down by bureaucracy that had caused a fall in the number of houses being built.

Since September 2013 every new home in Wales has to have a sprinkler system. An analysis by BRE Global calculated that this would save 36 lives and prevent 800 injuries by 2022.

But, as we reported here back in 2011, Mr Morgan warned that the extra cost – £3,500 for a three-bedroom house – would be the difference between a house being commercially viable or not for a builder.

“In areas where house prices are not that high, and I’m talking about areas where we build now, such as in the south Wales valleys, we can’t even look at the valleys anymore. What will happen is that the poorer areas of Wales will see no new development, the very places that need it the most will see no new development,” he said.

Labour Assembly Member Ann Jones, who introduced the new legislation, said he was “choosing threats over facts”.

The secretary of state said that Mr Morgan’s warning had proved accurate. Over the last year, new house-building decreased by 6.7% in Wales while growth of 33.6% was recorded across Great Britain.  Statistics from the National House Building Council show that registrations fell in Wales from January to March 2014 but not around the rest of the UK. Some 882 new homes were registered this year, compared with 1,055 in that period in 2013.

Persimmon Homes has also pulled out parts of the south Wales valleys, blaming planning rules and the cost of regulation.

Mr Jones also said that Wales should also drop its planned new requirements for home improvement works, the so-called ‘conservatory tax’.  He said that the policy, set to start next month in Wales, was rejected by the UK government in England after research showed it would discourage nearly 40% of households from undertaking home improvements in the first place.

Mr Jones said last night: “Through our red tape challenge, almost half the housing and construction regulations considered will be scrapped or improved – changes which are estimated to save businesses nearly £90m a year. However, all too often the Welsh government seems intent on increasing the regulatory burdens on councils, businesses and households rather than reducing them.

“By imposing more and more onerous building regulations in Wales, the Welsh government is increasing costs to house-builders of constructing the starter homes so many families desperately need and putting up the price of those homes, so that more people will struggle to get onto the property ladder.

“I urge the Welsh government to take forward, as a matter of priority, effective reforms to the planning system to enable Wales to develop a truly modern economy.”

However, the Welsh government’s economy minister, Edwina Hart, claimed back in January that Wales was outperforming the UK in construction output. [See that report here.]

All local authorities that applied for pothole funding from the government will get a share, but those who have been good will get more.

The Department for Transport has a pot of £168m allocated for local authority highway repairs and invited councils to pitch for it.

In total 148 authorities applied for funding and all will receive a share. The council getting the largest share is Devon, with £9.1m.

A greater share is being provided to those councils that were able to demonstrate best practice in highway maintenance, DfT said. These councils have invested in new technology and initiatives. They have brought in specialist machinery or set up dedicated crews, to help fix potholes or prevent them from appearing in the first place.

Those authorities that have demonstrated good practice include:

• Northamptonshire – which has set up systems to track pothole repairs in real time, allowing it to co-ordinate work more effectively and make sure teams are deployed efficiently.
• Hampshire – which has extra pothole fixing equipment to make speedy repairs. This equipment can also be converted to salt icy roads in winter.
• Lancashire – which has forged links with other highways authorities, suppliers and contractors to allow it to tackle potholes more effectively and improve its wider programme of highways maintenance.

All repair works have to be completed by end March 2015. Councils are also required to publish quarterly updates so that local residents can see how many potholes or miles or resurfacing has been undertaken in their area.

The Institute of Demolition Engineers (IDE) has become a full member of the Construction Industry Council (CIC).

The CIC serves to provide a stronger lobbying voice for the myriad professional bodies across the construction industry. More than 40 organisations are associated with it and the IDE is now its 32nd full member.

IDE board member Michael Ulyatt said: “By getting a seat at the CIC table, the IDE now has the opportunity for its professionalism to be heard. As the focus of true sustainable construction begins to turn towards design for deconstruction, we welcome this opportunity to bring coherence to a subject that, so far, has been addressed only in a fragmented way.”

CIC chief executive Graham Watts said: “As the voice for the professions, CIC’s focus is on the whole life cycle of the built environment, from concept, planning, design, construction through to occupancy and management.  Demolition engineering is vital at both ends of this whole-life spectrum and a key profession in terms of sustainability, recycling and carbon reduction.  It is important that all the construction professions have a voice within our network and I am therefore delighted to welcome the Institute of Demolition Engineers as a full member of the CIC family of professional institutions.”

A lorry loader crane operator must pay £10,000 in fines and costs after botching a lift and crushing a construction worker.

50-year-old Mark Fowell from Poole was attempting to load out a portable building onto the back of his lorry. However, he was not set up close enough to it and instead of the load coming cleanly off the ground, it was dragged towards the vehicle.

At the same time, 54-year-old Adrian Hoyland, also from Poole, had crawled under the cabin to recover materials. He suffered a fractured pelvis and fractured ribcage, and was unable to work for three months.

The incident took place on a site in Blandford Road, Hamworthy on 9th May 2011.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) established that Mark Fowell had failed to put a lift plan or any other planning measures in place.

Bournemouth magistrates fined Mark Fowell, of Hythe Road, Oakdale, Poole, £4,000 and ordered him to pay £6,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Lee said: “This incident was completely avoidable and was a direct result of a lack of any planning for a simple lifting operation. Mr Hoyland suffered significant injuries and the situation would have been far worse had it not been witnessed and the alarm immediately raised.

“All lifting operations, no matter how simple or routine, have the potential to cause serious harm and it is vital that they are always properly planned by suitably competent people. Clear lines of communication are needed to ensure that everyone in the area knows what is to happen and what is expected of them.”

A Carlisle scaffolding firm has been fined £15,000 after a young employee was badly hurt when he fell more than six metres through a roof light.

Contract Scaffolding Services Ltd was prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at a factory in Dalston, Cumbria, on 22nd February 2013.

Carlisle magistrates heard that the company had been subcontracted to fit edge protection around the roof of a building, to prepare for its removal ahead of the building’s demolition.

The 23-year-old trainee scaffolder from Carlisle was part of a four-strong team carrying out the work. He was wearing a harness, but this was not clipped onto anything at the time of the incident.

He was working on the roof and as he tried to walk past one of his colleagues, he stepped onto a roof light which gave way, causing him to fall through it.

As he fell, he struck parts of the internal steel structure of the building, causing severe cuts to his face and head, before hitting the concrete floor more than six and a half metres below and shattering his knee cap into 12 pieces. As a result of his injuries, he is no longer able to carry out manual work.

The court was told that although Contract Scaffolding Services Ltd had prepared a scaffolding plan, method statement and risk assessment prior to starting the work, it did not mention the presence of the fragile roof lights.

The scaffolding plan stated that workers would initially work from a cherry picker or scissor lift and that once a single handrail was installed they would gain access onto the roof.

This would prevent falls from the edge but offered no protection from a fall through the roof lights, which ran at four metre intervals and left less than half a metre of usable space where the scaffolders were working.

The plan made no mention of the need to wear a harness when working on the roof and the court heard that although the injured worker was issued with a harness, at five feet the lanyard was so long that even if it had been clipped onto the scaffolding it would not have stopped him falling through the roof lights due to their position.

Contract Scaffolding Services Ltd, of Carleton Depot, London Road, Carlisle, was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £920 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 9(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 on 18 June 2014.

Contractor Osborne has reported a 27% rise in turnover and a return to profit.

The family-owned business saw its turnover climb to £325m for the year to 31 March 2014, up from £256m the previous year.

Profit before tax was £5.2m, which is a new record high for the company. The previous year saw a loss of £2.6m.

As at April 2014, the secured forward order book was £443m, 63% higher than the £272m booked a year before. Secured orders plus work under negotiation totals £663m compared with £351 a year before – an 80% increase.

The end-of-year cash balance stood at £25.6m, slightly down on the £27.8m of sa year earlier but this is after Osborne invested £5.5m in buying 40,000sqft of office space in Cambridge.

Labour peer and former transport minister Lord Adonis has lambasted the government for introducing a bill into parliament that is being written ‘on the hoof’.

At second reading of the bill in the House of Lords yesterday, Baroness Kramer for the government admitted that part of the legislation, the section relating to fracking, was “still being developed and will be made available at the earliest opportunity”.

Lord Adonis, Labour spokesman in the Lords, responded: “The government are legislating on the hoof — or perhaps I should say on the future hoof, as we do not even know what hoof they are going to be legislating on hereafter.”

It was, he said, “no way to treat parliament”.

Lord Adonis also said that the government had yet to make the case for changing the status of the Highways Agency. “The key issue is greater certainty over medium-term and long-term funding but there is no need to create a new company to give greater certainty over future funding. The government could simply announce a detailed five-year settlement for strategic roads in any event,” he said.

He added: “The reason there has been stop/start over the past four years is that the government stopped and then they started again. They did not have to do that. They could have announced and stuck to a longer-term funding plan, and it is entirely within their prerogative to do so. However, if the simple act of setting up this company constrains the ability of governments to stop and start in respect of roads investment, it will none the less be worthwhile. But until we see the detailed five-year settlement for 2015-20 we are not in a position to judge.”

Lord Adonis also warned of unintended consequences. Decisions over road construction and expansion were by nature political and distancing politicians from the process is likely to lead to bad governance and bad democracy, he suggested.

He said: “Under the bill, there is to be a Passengers’ Council, which is a reform of the existing quango Passenger Focus, but it is hard to see how it will have the credibility and clout that Ministers currently exercise. Furthermore, as I understand it, the Passengers’ Council will be mandated only to promote and protect the interests of users of highways for which the highways company or companies are responsible. The Passengers’ Council will not represent the interests of communities along the road or the natural environment. That is a very important point. Who will represent their interests and take account of them?”

Vinci Construction UK has implemented a new system for managing its supply chain.

The contractor has moved its processes for prequalifying and approving subcontractors to the Construction Industry Solution (COINS) iPortal system, integrated with the Constructionline database.

Vinci Construction UK was spending 22,000 man-hours a year on PQQs and approvals. It says the switch will now eliminate unnecessary repetition of PQQ input.

National supply chain manager Neil Mant said: “The fact that COINS iPortal integrates with Constructionline was key to our decision to implement the solution.  Constructionline is government endorsed and PAS91 compliant, which was also important in meeting our internal requirements.”

COINS iPortal is a cloud service for supply chain collaboration involving processes such as pre-qualification, data collection, vendor vetting and approval.  iPortal vendors can be subcontractors, consultants and/or material suppliers – Vinci is using it only for subcontractors.

Glasgow City Council has begun work to put together a list of approved contractors to share up to £120m of building work over the next three years.

It has divided its work areas into 27 separate lots (see below) and expects ot pick between five and 10 contractors for each lot. In theory it could have as many as 270 different contractors on board, although that is unlikely.

The council has published a contract notice inviting expressions of interest form contractors. See our Contract Leads section for details.

The full list of all 27 lots is:

1.  Road Surfacing Works.
2.  Civil Engineering Road Works – Minor value less than 100K GBP.
3.  Civil Engineering Road Works – Major value 100K GBP and above.
4.  Proprietary Thin Surfacing Treatments on Carriageways and Footways.
5.  Streetscape and Public Realm Works.
6.  Planing.
7.  Road & Surface Marking.
8.  Anti-Skid / High Friction Surfacing.
9.  Temporary Traffic Management*.
10.  General Bridge & Structural Work – Minor value less than 100K GBP.
11.  General Bridge & Structural Work – Major value greater than 100K GBP.
12.  Sign Gantries.
13.  Mechanical and Engineering Works at Tidal Weir and Clyde Tunnel*.
14.  Road and Decorative Lighting works, electrical only*.
15.  Road and Decorative Lighting works, civil and electrical*.
16.  Seasonal and Event Lighting Works*.
17.  Painting of Street Lighting Columns and ancillary equipment*.
18.  External Sports Pitches and Tennis Courts Floodlighting*
19.  Groundworks.
20.  Landscape Construction & Ground Maintenance.
21.  Tree Works.
22.  Sport Surfaces.
23.  General Fencing, Barriers & Gates.
24.  Playground Installation and Surfacing Works*.
25.  Masonry Works.
26.  Heritage Repair and Restoration – Masonry.
27.  Heritage Repair and Restoration – Metalwork.

* These lots include requirements for works and services.

The UK government has opened the way for massive Chinese investment in major infrastructure projects after signing a series of cooperation agreements.

The HS2 high speed rail project and the next generation of nuclear power stations are among assets that could end up in Chinese ownership.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang is visiting the UK this week and yesterday sat down with prime minister David Cameron to sign various memoranda of understanding (MOU) to strengthen bilateral relations and trade. Among these were measures easing the way for Chinese money to come into Britain, a new nuclear treaty and an MOU on collaboration in the field of rail transportation.

The rail agreement paves the way for closer co-operation on areas such as rail design, engineering, construction, supply, operation and maintenance.Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “I can see great mutual benefit to be gained from increased co-operation between the UK and China on rail. The railways are a massive success story in both countries and we can boast world class expertise across the sector.”

The MOU states the scope of the partnership may include:

• the development of new build and upgrading rail infrastructure projects;
• the supply of products and services to third markets;
• collaboration on research and development within the rail sector;
• station design;
• equipment supply;
• rail transport safety and evaluation; and
• energy saving and environmental protection in rail.

The new nuclear MOU allows Chinese companies to own and operate Chinese-designed nuclear power stations on UK soil, provided they meet the requirements of the UK’s independent regulator.  The UK government said that this paves the way for Chinese companies to invest in Hinkley Point C, for starters.

The two governments have also agreed to closer cooperation on the wider nuclear fuel supply chain cycle by working together to develop and export innovative solutions in areas such as waste treatment and decommissioning.

The Chinese premier was told that the UK welcomes suitable qualified companies from China bidding for projects in accordance with international and domestic procurement practices and laws. However, the agreement states that contracts won in the UK should use and build upon the UK supply chain.

In return, the UK expects to see greater emphasis on access to the China market for UK companies.

Other agreements signed yesterday include one to strengthen cooperation in offshore wind power technology, installation standards and financing mechanisms and jointly consider establishing a training centre for offshore wind power technologies.

Among £14bn of trade and investment deals announced to coincide with Mr Li’s visit, MAP Environmental and ZN Shine Solar struck a joint venture to purchase, develop, construct and manage £400m of UK solar PV assets. The project will involve a three-year construction programme in conjunction with some of the UK’s largest engineering, procurement and construction contractors as well as a 20-year maintenance term. The project will generate up to 50 new UK jobs in design, administration and operation roles with a further 500 new UK jobs in construction and maintenance created over the period of the contract, they said.

Leading house-builder Berkeley saw its profits leap 40% last year on revenues up 18%.

In the year to 30 April 2014, Berkeley Group Holdings completed 3,742 new homes – some 30% more than at the previous market peak in 2007.

Pre-tax profit reached £292.9m (2013: £209.7m). Revenue climbed to £1,620.6m (2013: £1,372.6m).

It invested £353m invested in nine new sites in the year, sufficient to build a further 2,500 new homes. The pipeline of future land comprises 11,000 plots and potential gross margin of £1.5bn to be unlocked over the next five years.

Chairman Tony Pidgley, always quick to lambast politicians when results are poor, attributed these strong results to Berkeley’s “bold strategy to invest at the right point in the economic and housing cycle” rather than taxpayer support.

While government policy had helped stimulate demand, he conceded, the recent surge of confidence within the UK economy had been down to house-builders “creating a feelgood factor which benefits everyone”.

Mr Pidgley added: “Berkeley has the right plan to deliver long-term sustainable success, but remains alert to the inherently cyclical nature of the property market and the uncertainty surrounding future tax policy and political decision-making”

The National House-Building Council (NHBC) has replaced both its commercial director and its finance director with a single new appointee.

Out go NHBC commercial director Richard Tamayo and finance director Sandra Kelly. In their place comes Chris Rash as both commercial director and chief financial officer.

Chris Rash was previously group chief accountant at the insurance company Royal & Sun Alliance. He starts on 14^th July.

NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton said: “The new combined role has been created to bring wider general insurance expertise to NHBC, and Chris brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from insurance markets around the world, which will greatly assist us as we continue to adapt to meet the challenges ahead.

“Sandra and Richard have been great assets to NHBC in their time with the company and both have helped to steer the company through the very difficult period between 2008 and 2013 when the house-building industry retrenched significantly… I would like to thank them both very much for their contributions to the company’s current strong market position and robust financial strength.”

The decision by Mace to invest in controversial urban redevelopment scheme in West Oxford has surprised industry observers who believe it could damage the company’s good reputation.

Mace has one of the better reputations among construction industry contractors and has largely avoided controversy that seems to attach to so many big building companies. However, by investing in a £100m scheme in Botley it is putting itself in the line of fire as there is so much opposition to the scheme, including from the local MP.

The plans involve knocking down West Way shopping centre, Elms Parade shops, Field House sheltered housing and the empty Elms Court office block. In their place will be built a supermarket, a cinema complex, a hotel and a gym.

Yesterday we reported that Mace had taken a 50% in Doric Properties, the developer behind the project, to help make the scheme a reality. (See previous report here.)

However, most locals consider the size of the development to be disproportionate to the area and fear the traffic implications. Of the 827 locals who submitted comments to the local Vale of White Horse District Council in response to the planning application, just 20 people were in favour of the development going ahead, while 722 people (87%) said that the council should refuse the application and stop it going ahead.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood has told the local Oxford Mail: “The West Way shopping centre would benefit from investment, but any development must work with and for local residents. So far I think Doric’s proposals fall short of that and I have made my concerns very clear to both the district council and Doric.”

There is also doubt about the commercial viability of the project after the council gave Waitrose planning permission to build its own supermarket close by.

According to one industry source: “This is stunningly unpopular and set for a prolonged legal battle. I’m surprised that Mace want to get involved.

“Being Oxford, the area is packed with well-heeled, well-connected academics, architects, solicitors, civil engineers and planning experts who are waging a highly organised and well-funded campaign against the development… This could do Mace quite a bit of reputational harm. Should the development be approved, it will just be the start of a protracted legal battle that will involve a lot of mud being slung at Doric, and by extension Mace.”

Plans for the redevelopment of Botley were submitted to Vale of White Horse District Council in December 2013 and are due to be considered by its planning committee in the next few months.

A committee of MPs has called on the government to increase funding for maintenance of flood defences and watercourses to increase dredging work.

The House of Commons Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee wants to see more money to address the current backlog of dredging and watercourse maintenance as well as to maintain the growing numbers of man-made flood defences.

“Too often maintenance is neglected until a need is created for costly one-off capital investment,” their report into last winter floods says. “Defra needs to recognise the importance of regular and sustained maintenance work in the prevention and management of flood risk and take steps to reflect the equal importance of maintenance alongside capital. The avoidance of flood events that devastate communities should, as far as is possible, take priority over cost-cutting.”

Launching the report, committee chair Anne McIntosh said: “We have repeatedly called on the government to increase revenue funding so that necessary dredging and watercourse maintenance can be carried out to minimise flood risk, yet funding for maintenance remains at a bare minimum. Ministers must take action now to avoid a repeat of the devastation caused by the winter floods.”

She added: “Regular work to dredge and keep rivers clear can be an essential flood prevention measure, yet this is exactly what gets squeezed out when budgets are tight. The government needs to recognise the importance of regular maintenance work and put it on an equal footing with building new defences”

The committee identifies the current split between capital and revenue budgets as a major barrier to targeting funding according to local priorities.   “We want clarity for everyone when it comes to flood funding budgets” said Ms McIntosh. “We see no reason why the government cannot move to a total expenditure approach for flood funding to allow more flexibility to spend in the most effective way.”

The full report can be downloaded here

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmenvfru/240/240.pdf

Specialist interiors subcontractor Horbury Group has secured a £6m finance package from HSBC bank fund its growth plans.

The Rotherham-based company plans to use the finance to bid for larger, and a greater number of, projects, having seen demand pick up for its core trade products of dry wall, ceilings, partitions, flooring and joinery.

Horbury Group, founded in 1993, has three principle subsidiaries – Horbury Building Systems, Titan Interiors Solutions and MWS Joinery. Group turnover is more than £50m. Recent projects include the Co-operative Group headquarters in Manchester and Reading railway station.

Founder and chief executive Trevor Wragg said: “We identified a number of growth opportunities as part of a recent strategic review and this funding will enable us to pursue these. The construction market certainly went through some difficult times but it has strengthened in recent months and confidence appears to have returned. We opened two new offices last year, in London and the southwest, to meet clients’ needs in those markets and we are confident of continued growth this year.”

HSBC’s deputy head of corporate for the Yorkshire region, Mike Swift, added: “Successful mid-market companies such as Horbury Group are vital in driving the Yorkshire, and wider UK economy, forward, particularly in a sector such as construction. The company showed strong management and resilience during the downturn and is now demonstrating its ambition with its growth strategy.”

Mace has taken a 50% stake in Doric Properties to form a partnership for the regeneration of Botley district centre in Oxfordshire.

The £100m+ scheme will see the redevelopment of the existing 1960s shopping precinct. There are plans for a new supermarket, a cinema, a hotel, restaurants and cafés, 525 student bedrooms, community spaces, and a Baptist Church – all arranged around a new pedestrian precinct and provision for a large car park under a podium.

Mace said that the partnership combined its own “expertise as an investor, international consultancy and contractor, as well as its local experience in the area, with Doric’s exciting vision for the future of Botley”.

Under the terms of the deal, Mace has become a joint venture partner and shareholder in Doric Properties.

Since a 2002 contract for the University of Oxford in 2002, Mace has had several projects in and around the city, including Oxfordshire County Council’s Central Offices, the Saïd Business School, the New Bodleian Library and the Ashmolean Museum.

Mace chairman Stephen Pycroft said: “We’ve always taken a partnership approach and we’re absolutely delighted to have partnered with Doric Properties to help deliver their proposals which will revitalise Botley.”

Mace Investments COO David Grover said: “The proposals will create a fantastic new district centre, bringing together a large supermarket, leisure opportunities and community functions to serve the west of Oxford community.

“Mace has a strong track record in Oxford stemming back to our work with the University of Oxford and we are keen to extend our success by bringing our investment, development consultancy and construction expertise to Doric’s proposals. We’re already working closely with Doric’s team on the details of the environmental impact assessment and the construction and phasing and we believe that we have already made some very positive progress and are confident that we can bring forward further enhancements.”

Simon Hillcox, joint owner of Doric Properties, said: “Having seen the breadth and depth of their experience in the Oxford area it was an extremely easy decision to partner with Mace.”

He added: “We firmly believe that our partnership agreement brings us a step closer to delivering the revitalisation of Botley as part of proposals which deliver a commercially viable and socially dynamic scheme. We’re going to provide a whole range of new and improved community facilities functioning alongside a renewed shopping environment.”

Plans for the redevelopment of Botley were submitted to Vale of White Horse District Council in December 2013 and are due to be considered by its planning committee in the next few months.

The volume of residential property sales in Hong Kong in May rebounded for the second month in a row as developers continued to offer buyers attractive deals on new schemes.

In total, there were 5,270 transactions in May, 10% higher than the previous month and the highest level of the past 15 months, according to the latest monthly report from Knight Frank. Within that, the number of luxury residential sales worth HK$10 million or above rose 17% month on month to 505 transactions.

Sales of secondary homes grew 20% from the previous month, as more owners were willing to offer discounts to compete with new build units offered at competitive prices, according to the report.

Another fillip to the market came in the middle of May when the government proposed a relaxation of the Double Stamp Duty. This made it easier for buyers of second homes to obtain a refund of the tax. Previously, buyers had to sell their first homes within six months of the second homes’ ‘sale and purchase agreement’ to be eligible for the refund.

Now, the six-month period starts from the ‘conveyance on sale’ for the second homes, giving buyers more time to dispose of their first properties.

Buyers of pre-sale new build flats therefore have up to 36 months to sell their first property in order to qualify for the rebate, the report points out.

The report also says that the Hong Kong government has begun to accept lower prices for its land, evidenced by the recent sale of a residential site in Tai Po for a relatively low accommodation value of HK$3,300 per square foot.

However, land in core districts remains highly valuable. For example, a small residential plot in Schooner Street in Wan Chai was sold to Hopewell Holdings for HK$233 million or an accommodation value of about HK$16,035 per square foot, making it the most expensive site in the district.

In addition, a residential site in Shouson Hill in Island South received an overwhelming response and fetched an accommodation value of about HK$30,888 per square foot, around 28% more than that fetched by a nearby site two years ago.
‘We expect the relaxation of the stamp duty requirement will boost buying sentiment and particularly benefit developers who are targeting buyers looking to move up the property ladder,’ the report says.

‘Transaction volumes are therefore expected to increase in the coming months. However, we expect the impact on prices to be limited because of other cooling measures still firmly in place,’ it adds.

The report also covers the commercial market and shows that during May 2014, the Grade-A office leasing market on Hong Kong Island remained stable, while office rents in Kowloon East further softened, due to increasing supply and the decreasing affordability of tenants amidst previous rental surges.

Meanwhile, retail sales continued to decrease in April, year on year, and the expansion of international brands further slowed. Recently, the market has been dominated by middle end retailers.

The number of people in the UK who think that now is a good time to buy a home is at its lowest level since June 2008, new research shows.

Just 29% believe that now is a good time to buy, down from 40% three months ago, according to the latest property tracker report from the Building Societies Association.

At a time when there is a lot of talk about limiting house price growth, the report also indicates that new mortgage lending regulations, affordability constraints and media scrutiny may be beginning to have a limiting effect, suggesting that the intervention that is being discussed by the Bank of England and politians may not be necessary.

On house prices, 62% of Londoners say that there is a housing bubble in the city and 55% of people across the UK agree.
However, views about prices across the rest of the UK are very different with just 20% saying that they believe there is a bubble across the rest of the country.

Prices are now rising in all regions, but most remain under their 2007 peak.
Building new homes is seen as the most effective way of curbing house price inflation. This view was particularly strong amongst first time buyers where 40% saw this as the best solution.

When asked about their reaction if the Bank of England were to introduce measures making it harder to get a mortgage, 28% of first time buyers said that they would put their home buying plans on hold for the foreseeable future. Curbing Help to Buy is not seen as an effective solution with just 6% of the public thinking that this would work.

‘For decades successive governments have failed to address the problem of housing supply. The launch of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme just over a year ago has provided a much needed shot in the arm to the construction industry while the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee has had a beneficial effect on consumer confidence, but actual lending is low. There is clamour in some quarters for this scheme to be withdrawn or scaled back but in my view the impact would be negligible,’ said Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the BSA.

‘The single biggest issue in the market remains lack of supply. The population is increasing, household sizes are falling so there are more of them and all of this is leading to the pressure on prices which we are seeing in varying degrees across the country,’ he explained.

‘This quarters’ Property Tracker clearly shows that consumer confidence has cooled and that people are more cautious about buying,’ he added.

He pointed out that the Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England has a wide range of tools intended to take heat out of the market. ‘I would urge caution as the challenges in raising a deposit and the recently introduced Mortgage Market Review regulations are beginning to have…

Scottish house prices have increased for an eighth consecutive month, marking the longest growth spell in four years, according to the latest index figures.

Average prices are up 4% in a year, a rise of £6,250 and some 2.4% higher than rate of inflation, the data from the LSL/Acadata report shows. And they were up 0.3% month on month in April.

Sales are also robust, up 24% in the last three months compared to 2013 and this is being driven by first time buyer demand with a new peak being reached in East Renfrewshire with 15% annual growth.

‘The recovery is building in strength. This is more than just numbers on a page. The new stability is translating into a tangible feel good factor for millions of home owners, buoying consumer confidence and anticipation of future price gains,’ said Gordon Fowlis, regional managing director of Your Move, an estate agency that is part of LSL.

He pointed out that the forthcoming Independence referendum in September has not prompted potential home buyers into delaying their purchase decisions. ‘Activity is permeating the Scottish housing market, with overall house sales up 24% over the three months to April 2014 compared to the same time last year. Any uncertainty surrounding the fiscal, taxation or currency implications of an independent Scotland have not dented the confidence of homebuyers,’ he explained.

‘In fact areas such as Stirling have seen sales soar by 52% over the last 12 months. The steep increase in the sale of properties during March and April is 10% above the usual seasonal trend. While transactions may be starting to cool south of the border, there are no indications of a sales slowdown in Scotland,’ he added.

Fowlis also pointed out that, as with the rest of the UK, first time buyers remain a crucial lynchpin in the housing market recovery, driving activity from the bottom up. ‘Last month’s announcement of further investment in the Help to Buy scheme will allow thousands more to climb onto the housing ladder and keep the foot on the pedal,’ he said.

‘House building and revived supply are providing additional impetus for growth. In East Renfrewshire, for example, a wave of luxury housing developments has helped fuel an annual price rise of 15.1%, reaching a new record of £236,463, catapulting this to the top spot as the most expensive area to buy in Scotland,’ he added.

Other areas with strong annual house price growth include Inverclyde up 18%, Perth and Kinross up 11.7%, Aberdeen up 11.6%, East Lothian up 10.2% and the Scottish Borders also up 10.2%.

But some areas have seen prices fall on annual basis, most notably Midlothian with a fall of 11.1% and East Ayrshire down 10.4%.

With the need for housing particularly acute in and around London, ministers have outlined plans to give the Mayor greater powers to deliver new homes.

Of the £400 million government funding available, £200 million will be allocated to and matched by the Greater London Assembly and be put towards delivering 20 new housing zones in the Capital.

The Mayor, Boris Johnson, will also be offered powers to drive forward local development orders in those areas to get work speeded up. Where London boroughs are slow to get their local plans in place, the Mayor will also have new powers to intervene. He will be able to call in developments of 100 or more homes where there are delays.

Ministers also want to ensure that, as well as making the best use of brownfield land, existing housing estates in need of large scale regeneration also get the attention they deserve.

Such a move has the potential to deliver additional new homes on existing land. For example, London’s inner boroughs will contain 1.7 million fewer people than they did in 1911 despite record numbers of people expected to be living in the city by 2021.

‘This estate regeneration fund will allow us to provide wonderful new homes for existing residents and radically improve the quality of housing in many neglected communities,’ said Johnson.

‘We want to create welcoming neighbourhoods in which people aspire to live all across the capital. Many of our estates date back to the 1960s and it is high time that they received a new lease of life and I urge developers to apply for the funding and get building,’ he added.

It is expected 50,000 new homes across 20 new housing zones will be created in London with local authorities identifying and packaging together brownfield land which could be used for development into a housing zone and removing all unnecessary planning restrictions. They will be expected to partner with a developer to build new homes and the absence of planning constraints will significantly accelerate construction.

The Mayor launched the scheme at Meridian Water, an 85 hectare former industrial site in Enfield that has the potential for 5,000 new homes, new schools, a library and commercial space, linking to the nearby Lea Valley regional park.

‘Housing is the biggest challenge facing London’s economic development and these new £400 million housing zones will turbo boost housing supply across the capital. This major regeneration will transform communities and provide up to 50,000 much needed homes. They will support 250,000 Londoners into low cost home ownership over the next decade,’ explained Johnson.

The Mayor’s Office has worked with a number of London boroughs to test the concept. These include: Meridian Water in Enfield, Tottenham Hale in Haringey, Southall in Ealing, South Poplar in Tower Hamlets, and Winstanley and York Road in Wandsworth.

The funding for housing zones will be allocated by competition. The Mayor has published his prospectus inviting bids from local authorities in London.

Residential building approvals slipped back for the third consecutive month in April after reaching a decade high in January, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The data shows that total seasonally adjusted building approvals fell by 5.6%. Detached house approvals were effectively flat in the month with a fall of 0.1% but remained at a level that is 16.1% higher than April a year ago.

Approvals for other dwellings fell by 13.5% month on month and were down by 17% compared to the level a year earlier.

Seasonally adjusted building approvals increased by 14.8% in Victoria, by 12.2% in South Australia, and by 4.4% in Western Australia. They fell by 22.8% in New South Wales, by 20.3% in Queensland and by 10.4% in Tasmania. In trend terms, building approvals declined by 12% in the Northern Territory and fell by 5.8% in the ACT.

However, the quantum of approvals remains strong, according to the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry.

‘The monthly volume of building approvals in April 2014, continued to recede from the decade high achieved back in January, although with close to 15,000 dwellings approved in the month it is still a very positive result,’ said HIA economist Geordan Murray.

‘The pace of building approvals late in 2013 and early 2014 moved well ahead of the pace of home building commencements. So while we have seen building approval activity moderate over recent months, the pipeline of residential building work already approved should sustain a historically high level of activity throughout the middle part of the 2014,’ he explained.

‘While declining numbers of multi-unit approvals have been behind the recent decline, they still represent a historically large share of multi-unit dwellings in the pipeline. The longer build time associated with the larger multi-unit development projects means that work already approved could well sustain activity for some time to come,’ he added.