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Building
Sellafield failed by private clean-up firms
Sellafield failed by private clean-up firms: Series of expensive mistakes has led to review at nuclear plant The Government is expected to take back control of the clean-up of nuclear waste at Cumbria’s Sellafield, following a string of failures by a private sector consortium of US, French and British engineers. Alarmed by spiralling budgets – £70bn and counting – and a series of delays to crucial projects, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has quietly drafted in a team of consultants from the accountants KPMG to review how Sellafield is run, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. It is running through three options to sort out a situation in which 12 of 14 major projects were behind schedule last year, as well as last month’s £700,000 …
Once Derelict Liverpool Properties Become Eco-Homes
A £4m housing scheme on Liverpool’s Boot Estate has transformed 74 derelict properties earmarked for demolition a decade ago into quality eco-homes. Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) has overhauled the three-bedroom properties as part of the Ellergreen Development. The project was financed via resources from LMH, funds from the Community Energy Saving Programme – a subsidy from an energy company in return for carbon reduction savings – and a £750,000 contribution from Liverpool City Council. The homes feature a range of green technologies that will reduce tenant’s fuel bills and cut carbon emissions by 3,000 tonnes making them more efficient than new build house regulations demand. Solar panels have been fitted to some roofs to provide electricity and ‘A’ rated double-glazed windows and doors installed to …
Groundworks contractor in administration
Midlands-based groundworks specialist PGC Contractors Ltd is in administration. Insolvency specialist Ninos Koumettou of Alexander Lawson Jacobs was appointed administrator on 17 July. PGC Contractors has been in operation for 18 years. According to its website, it was turning over £8-10m a year from 11 clients, including Vinci, Tolent, Kier, John Sisk and Thomas Vale. It took on a wide range of groundworks projects, including retaining walls and flood defences, as well as reinforced concrete frames up to four storeys and bridge works. Sister company Trafalgar Hire is believed to be unaffected.
House building powers to be given to tenants
An increase in house building could be on the cards in certain areas, thanks to new legislation being brought into force by the government that will give social tenants the power to boost house building in their area. Right to Transfer, which is coming into force in the autumn, will mean that tenants can take control over future investment into their communities by requesting new homes to be built. The plans will work alongside the £19.5bn public and private investment to build 170,000 affordable homes by 2015, and plans in the Spending Review to invest £3.3bn to deliver 165,000 affordable homes over 3 years from 2015 – equivalent to the fastest annual rate of housebuilding for 20 years. As part of the deal, housing associations will need to show plans in …
Three top tips for improving safety in warehouses
Three top tips for improving safety in warehouses Safety should never be an afterthought, or even worse completely ignored, in a warehouse. These large facilities are filled with people every single day, not to mention all the equipment that is used, the complex tasks that go on within their walls and the vehicles that are driven around to complete deliveries. To ensure that everyone is kept out of danger and accidents are prevented wherever possible, make sure to bear these three important safety points in mind: 1. Provide everyone with adequate safety equipment There are so many tasks that go on inside a typical warehouse where safety equipment is essential. Anyone who is working with loud machinery must protect their ears from permanent damage, while eyewear is …
Rightmove Doubles Annual UK Home Price Growth Outlook
Property website Rightmove has raised its forecast for annual British home price growth after housing witnessed a seventh consecutive month of price increases in July.
Rightmove expects 4% growth in house prices in 2013, up from the previous forecast for a 2% growth, as the sector experiences a broader-based recovery fuelled by the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’.
The website added that asking prices increased 0.3% on month in July to £253,658 ($383,024, €293,090). From the year-ago month, home asking prices increased by 4.8%, with all regions’ prices increasing for the first time in nearly three years.
“The market is currently benefitting from the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’ where incremental improvements across a range of market drivers help to slowly but surely build momentum,” Miles Shipside, Rightmove director said in a statement.
“Rightmove’s lead indicators show increasing enquiries to agents and developers, new sellers and marketing prices. An important signal for a broader-based and sustainable recovery is that all regions of the country now have higher prices than a year ago”.
Consumer confidence has also increased as the number of home-movers, anticipating average prices to be higher in next 12 months, has increased to 62% from 31% a year ago.
On the demand side, the number of transactions on Rightmove website increased by 5% in the year-to-date period. Meanwhile, email enquiries to agents and developers increased by 18% on 2012, as the surveyors are “struggling to cope” with demand.
The improvement also underlines HMRC’s recent data saying house transactions increased by 5% on 2012 and the Bank of England’s figures for mortgage approvals that are up 6% on last year.
Funding for Lending and Help to Buy
Rightmove added that the current borrowing environment is boosted by governmental measures, such as the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and the Help to Buy Scheme.
The FLS has eased mortgage rates and increased loan availability while the Help to Buy, currently available for new build only, is capturing prospective buyers’ interest.
Last year, the Bank of England launched the FLS that helped banks to provide loans at lower interest rates to businesses and individuals.
In addition, the government’s Help to Buy Scheme, launched earlier this year, has helped first-time buyers with eased mortgage rules. The number of loans given to first-time buyers increased by 41.8% year-on-year to 25,100 in May,the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported earlier.
“The ability to borrow is increasing as the Funding for Lending Scheme starts to really deliver, though it still favours those with better deposits. Lenders are squeezing their margins and, with the prospect of no base rate rise for three years, consumers are increasingly aware of moving options rather than debt burden,” Shipside added.
“The Help to Buy scheme, the centre-piece of the last Budget, has already created a marked upturn in the new-build market as recently reported in some developers’ trading updates.”
In addition, markets do not expect an increase in base rate until the latter half of 2016, said the property website.
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