Times Square, the housebuilder’s largest project to date, will be built in Welwyn Garden City. Phase one of the project is already under way. It will provide 210 residential units in three existing buildings on site. The second phase will add 66 penthouses to the buildings on site and four new apartment blocks. Dentons assisted the housebuilder in securing planning permission for the development.   Source link

A care home company based in Middlesex has been fined after an elderly resident of a Surrey home died from scalding injuries. Guildford Crown Court heard how the 89-year-old was receiving personal care from two employees of European Healthcare Group Plc at Old Wall Cottage Nursing Home. She received significant scalding injuries, and subsequently died of her injuries in hospital. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 30 August 2011, found that the bathroom taps in were not adjusted to limit the temperature of the water to a safe level for bathing and showering. The investigation also found that while the company had policies and procedures in place they were deficient and the company failed to effectively communicate information and instruction to its staff so that the control measures could be implemented effectively. European Healthcare Group Plc, of Windsor Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £50,000. HSE inspector Michelle Canning said after the hearing: “This tragic and preventable incident highlights the responsibility that all care providers have to protect the safety of people in their care. People who live in residential care and nursing homes are amongst some of the most vulnerable in our society and rely on others to provide a safe environment for them to live in. “All healthcare premises have a legal duty to control the risks of scalding injuries from bathing or showering and there is guidance that is well established and simple to implement.” For further information on scalding and burning visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/scalding-burning.htm Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk  More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/    HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link

The UK housing market has reported healthy growth in March, on the back of a surge in first time buyer activity, new research shows. There has been a lot of talk about buy to let buyers flooding the market to beat Aprils extra stamp duty deadline, but the latest figures from Connells Survey & Valuation show that first time buyer activity in March jumped 15% compared to March 2015 and 41% compared to February 2016. In March, the total number of valuations carried out rose 8% year on year and grew by 21% month on month and this was primarily due to the first time buyer sector posting strong monthly and annual growth figures. Indeed the figures show that there was a dip in buy to let activity in March. Corporate services director John Bagshaw believes first time buyers figures have been aided by an increased uptake of Government plans designed to assist the bottom of the market. ‘The Help to Buy scheme has become more widely recognized and used by those who need a little help getting the capital together to fund a mortgage for a first home. Equally, more first time buyers are taking advantage of special first time buyer discounts on certain properties, which has helped those on lower incomes step onto the ladder,’ he explained. Remortgagors and home movers have also seen a significant boost in valuation activity in March. Total remortgaging volumes were up 25% month on month and up 33% year on year. ‘Those seeking to move up the property ladder are making solid strides this month. With home values high and continuing to increase across all parts of the country, albeit at an uneven pace, many property owners may view it as a good time to either upscale to something bigger and better or downsize and enjoy the surplus capital,’ said Bagshaw. ‘The remortgaging sector has also enjoyed an energetic March. The rates of growth have come down somewhat from what we were seeing in previous months, as those looking to remortgage to fund a second home take a step back to re-assess and absorb the stamp duty changes,’ he pointed out. ‘But with the average mortgage rate still very low and no Bank of England rate rise on the horizon many are taking advantage of the bargain rates in order to release capital on their home or switch to a better mortgage deal,’ he added. The stamp duty changes, which became effective on 01 April impacted the buy to let market in March. Valuation activity in this sector dropped by 27% between February and March 2016, as well as dipping by 36% compared to the same month a year ago. ‘The buy to let market has endured a turbulent month but we expect this to be a short term tumble, with investors adopting the standard kneejerk reaction to legislative changes by proceeding cautiously. This is particularly true for a tax increase like the stamp duty shake-up,’ Bagshaw explained. ‘Many aspiring buy to let landlords may have realised that if they initiated a buy to let mortgage application in March, they would be unable to get it processed in time to beat the April deadline. Instead, they may be taking their time in order to factor the changes into their financial planning,’ he said. ‘More importantly, the fundamentals of buy to let remain unaffected by the new levy. Home values continue to increase while high LTV lending remains accessible, meaning investors can more easily take advantage of the capital returns on offer from the property market,’ Bagshaw pointed out. ‘Equally, demand for rental property remains strong and potential yields remain appealingly high. As the year progresses, these benefits will be the silver lining that outshines the short term cloud in the buy to let sector that the stamp duty hike has created,’ he added. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link

The owners of Alton Towers have been fined £5million with costs of £69,955.40 following a rollercoaster collision which left 16 people injured, a number of them seriously. Two young women on the Smiler ride suffered leg amputations and others suffered severe injuries when their carriage collided with a stationary carriage on the same track on 2 June 2015. Stafford Crown Court heard that on the day of the incident engineers overrode the Smiler’s control system without the knowledge and understanding to ensure it was safe to do so. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found no fault with the track, the cars, or the control system that keeps the cars apart from each other when the ride is running. Investigators found the root cause to be a lack of detailed, robust arrangements for making safety critical decisions. The whole system, from training through to fixing faults, was not strong enough to stop a series of errors by staff when working with people on the ride. Following the incident Alton Towers made technical improvements to the ride and changed their systems. Merlin Attractions Operation Ltd of 3 Market Close, Poole, Dorset pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc, 1974 and were fined £5million with costs of £69,955.40. Neil Craig, head of operations for HSE in the Midlands said: “People visiting theme parks should be able to enjoy themselves safely. On 2 June last year Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd failed to protect their customers, they badly let them down. “This avoidable incident happened because Merlin failed to put in place systems to allow engineers to work safely on the ride while it was running. This made it all too easy for a whole series of unchecked mistakes, not just one push of a button, to result in tragic consequences. “Since the incident Alton Towers have made improvements to the ride and their safety protocols, and the lessons learned have been shared industry wide.” Notes to Editors Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd is the company responsible for Alton Towers and under health and safety law is responsible for managing the risks created by the operation of the theme park’s rides. Visual materials relating to this case are available below. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk More information on fairground safety can be found here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg175.htm HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk Download .zip file of available materials (174mb) Previously released material is also available. Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link

Book Course HSL is to run a 1 day course on Site and Transport Safety. 15 September 2016 Introduction Vehicle movements and loading and unloading vehicles can be some of the most dangerous activities carried out on a worksite. This course will help you understand the legal requirements of both road traffic law and workplace safety law, how and why things go wrong, and how you can take practicable steps to reduce risk in your business. Course includes Background for load securing Legal principles and UK and European requirements Use of the vehicle structure for load securing Lashing loads for safe road transport Responsibility and communication in the transport chain Working at height and fall prevention Vehicle/pedestrian separation and preventing incidents Risk assessment and systems of work for loading and transport Who should attend? Site managers and transport managers working in general haulage, retail, warehousing and distribution. Cost The cost of this course is £425 per person (includes course notes, certificate of attendance and lunch/refreshments). Venue The course will be run at the HSL laboratory in the spa town of Buxton. Buxton is in the heart of the Peak District and has good links to mainline train stations and Manchester International Airport. Details of hotels in the Buxton area can be found at www.visitbuxton.co.uk Book Course     Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers.  If you are selecting the invoice option for payment, it will be mandatory to input a purchase order/reference number as we are unable to process booking forms without this. For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unitat HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806. Back to Health & Safety Training Courses Back to the top Source link

UK residential property prices rose modestly in the UK during May, although they are now likely to fall in the wake of Brexit. The latest market survey report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also stated that central London experienced a fall in values, while house prices in the UK are set for a short term drop for the first time in four years. Central London house prices are already on a downward trend according to the study, with 35% more property professionals reporting a fall in prices rather than a rise over the last month. While the rest of the UK is continuing to see a modest climb in property prices, this trend looks set to be short lived, with a further 10% of respondents anticipating a fall in property prices over the next three month period. Such a fall in property prices has not been seen since 2012, while the worst hit areas are expected to be London and East Anglia, with 43% and 33% of respondents estimating a price fall over the next quarter. RICS Chief Economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said that for young people who are looking to enter the property market, the situation looks bleak as it seems unlikely that we will see the emergence of a more affordable housing market. He added: “Instead, it appears to me that what we are looking at is a short term drop caused by the uncertainty resulting from the EU referendum coupled by a slowdown following the rush to get into the market ahead of the tax change on the purchase of investment properties.” The market study also demonstrated that throughout the UK buyer demand fell for the second month in a row and at its fastest rate since 2008, with 33% more property professionals stating that demand decreased in the last month.