Savills latest research reveals today’s house buyers are falling back in love with the Scottish suburbs in a prime market, which has been boosted by the return of home-grown wealth. While prime areas like the New Town, Stockbridge and Morningside in Edinburgh and the West End in Glasgow have been enjoying a strong market over the last five years, outlying areas had been slower to recover until now.  Andrew Perratt, Head of Residential in Scotland said:  “Scotland’s buyers are now falling back in love with the suburbs.  We have seen a jump in sales across suburban locations where we are seeing the return of the ‘closing date’, and premium prices being paid.  This may be explained by a dwindling supply of the best homes available to buy in the most sought-after city locations. We expect this trend to continue and to ripple further outwards to more attainable suburbs, like Liberton in Edinburgh and Netherlee in Glasgow.” This upturn in the suburban market is taking place against the backdrop of a generally improving residential property market.   According to the research, the prime market (£400,000 or above)  outperformed Scotland’s overall market last year, with the highest level of activity since 2007.  Prime is expected to grow by a further 18.8% over the next five years in terms of values, outperforming the overall residential market and in comparison to 22.2% across Great Britain.  Commuter locations are expected to see the greatest growth, with lower fuel costs playing a part. As a result, further outlying areas including Midlothian and locations such as Helensburgh and Kilmacolm are on the upturn.   Buyer origin According to Savills research, Scotland is continuing to attract overseas investors, yet wealthy Scottish buyers are once again prevalent in the market, and there were some important ‘trophy’ country house and estate sales during 2015. Faisal Choudhry, Savills Head of Research in Scotland said:  “The prime market between £400,000 and £1m continues to be constrained outside Edinburgh by LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax).   While the number of million pound sales in Scotland rose steeply from 146 in 2014 to 194 last year, most took place prior to the introduction of the new property tax.  “There were 194 sales over £1m last year and while Edinburgh accounted for 51%, there was also a prevalence of local wealth in Fife and in East Lothian.  The latter saw 17 sales over £1m, the highest number outside Edinburgh.” Click here to view Savills Spotlight: Scotland’s Prime Residential Property Market.   Source link

The first stage of the £320 million Heat Networks Investment project announced by the government last year has been launched with a £39 million pilot scheme. The pilot is being launched for applications this autumn, with the pre-qualification process for the single competitive funding-round opening tomorrow (18 October). The budget will be split across two financial years – 2016/17 and 2017/18 – with the first payments to be made by March 31 2017. The main scheme, which will consist of the remainder of the £320 million budget announced by the government in November 2015 to support investment in heat networks, is expected to open in 2017 and will run for four years. The pilot scheme is open to local authorities and other public sector bodies excluding central Government Departments, applying for any efficient heating and cooling network in England and Wales. Applicants can apply for grants or loans to support construction, expansion, refurbishment, and interconnection, including works to access recoverable heat and upgrade heating systems inside existing properties. Multiple criteria will be used to score and rank applications with respect to their carbon savings, customer impact and social net present value. The pilot was welcomed by the Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE), which called the funding “the right next step”. ADE’s director Dr Tim Rotheray said: “The launch of this pilot is a cornerstone for attracting up to £2 billion of capital investment for new heat network infrastructure. “More than 150 local authorities and a number of private sector property developers are working to deliver these infrastructure investments and build a foundation for a long-term district heating market in the UK. “Well built and operated heat networks deliver for consumers. With Heat Trust now representing 25,000 heat customers and the continued strengthening of technical standards, the heat network industry is working with Government to support its deployment ambitions over the coming years.” The £320 million investment aims to draw in up to £2 billion of additional capital investment, increasing the number of cost effective, low carbon heat networks being built, while creating the right conditions for a self-sustaining heat network market. Source link

Birmingham City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), advised by Savills, have selected Trebor Developments to bring forward the first speculative industrial facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMH) in Aston, Birmingham.   Working in conjunction with funding partner Aviva Investors, Midlands-based Trebor will develop a new 94,500 sq ft (8,779 sq m) premises known as ‘Apollo’ on a 4.7 acre (1.9 hectare) site.  As part of the AMH, the land benefits from a Local Development Order which grants planning consent for manufacturing, light industrial and R&D use without the need for a conventional application.  Fast track development will allow the building to be completed before the end of the year.   HydraForce Hydraulics was the first occupier to commit to the AMH in 2014, with more than 500 staff now based there at its 120,000 sq ft (11,148 sq m) European headquarters.  Additionally, global tool manufacturer Guhring is developing a 50,000 sq ft (4,645 sq m) factory at the site which will accommodate R&D and full manufacturing process upon completion in January 2017. Councillor John Clancy, leader of Birmingham City Council, comments: “I am delighted that Trebor and Aviva have chosen to invest at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub.  The investment illustrates the confidence in Birmingham’s advanced manufacturing sector and also demonstrates my commitment to deliver growth and regeneration in areas outside of the city centre.”  Charles Spicer, industrial director at Savills, adds: “As the first speculative development at the AMH, this is a major milestone.  The investment will create more jobs for the area and further enhance this successful regeneration project.” Bob Tattrie, managing partner of Trebor Developments, adds: “We are delighted to have been selected to bring forward this outstanding site which is centrally located in Birmingham and also to be working in partnership with our funding partner, Aviva, and public sector partners, the HCA and Birmingham City Council.  The delivery of this large, fast-track industrial manufacturing premises adds to a range of other industrial schemes which Trebor is delivering across the Midlands to meet the growing demand for quality manufacturing premises.”  Will Hutchinson, associate director at Aviva Investors, adds: “This site represents an excellent opportunity to deliver a high quality manufacturing property to the market in an accelerated timescale. We are excited by the growth prospects in Birmingham and believe this property will attract a good quality tenant resulting in more jobs for the local area.” Trebor and Aviva have jointly instructed Savills and Cushman & Wakefield as the letting agents for Apollo.  Lisa McGinn, partner at Browne Jacobson’s Birmingham Office, acted for the HCA in this deal. Source link

A month ago, the UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson suggested that a bridge across the English Channel would be a great idea. Now, the French company that runs the Channel Tunnel opened the subject to the UK government, writing to UK Prime Minister Theresa May. “The idea of a second fixed link is something that we regularly consider in our long-term plans and we would be delighted to engage with your officials to explore the possibility further,” wrote Eurotunnel Chief Executive Jacques Gounon. “As part of the Treaty of Canterbury and the Concession Agreement which established the Channel Tunnel, Eurotunnel has the right to build the next fixed link.” Even though in the beginning Johnson’s idea of a cross-Channel bridge was dismissed as an economic impossibility and an engineering liability, Eurotunnel seems to be interested in it, even stating they have first rights to build the link. “Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the world’s busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges,” said the UK Chamber of Shipping. Firstly, the Channel would have to include a suspension bridge able to accommodate 80m high ships, meaning it would need towers more than 500m high, said Wanda Lewis, Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Warwick. A more likely choice seems to be a second tunnel or even a combined bridge and tunnel, as the costs would only be a small fraction of the £120 billion needed for a bridge. The idea was brought forward by Johnson during a discussion with French president Emmanuel Macron, as a way of binding the UK and France after Brexit. However, the developments on the project need to wait until Westminster and Brussels reach a deal on Brexit.

North of England practices remain the most confident about increasing workloads Private housing and commercial sectors continue as strongest areas of growth Concerns about fee levels and economic uncertainty persist The recent downward trend in the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index appears to have stabilised, with the balance figure rising significantly in March 2016 to +31 (up from +21 in February). All nations and regions returned positive workload forecasts, with practices in the North of England being the most optimistic. Large practices (51+ staff) remain the most positive. Medium-sized practices (11–50 staff, balance figure +48) saw a boost in confidence levels, while small practices (1–10 staff, balance figure +28) were upbeat, however to a lesser degree. The commercial sector saw the biggest increase this month, rising to +18 (up from +10 in February). The private housing sector remained the strongest performing sector, despite the forecast decreasing marginally (to +28, down from +31 in February). The public sector and community sector workload forecasts dipped slightly, with balance figures of zero and –1 respectively. The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index rose slightly in March, standing at +10 (up from +7 in February). Medium-sized practices (balance figure +35) and large practices (balance figure +57) continued to be more positive about taking on additional staff; smaller practices were less optimistic about increasing staff levels (balance figure +5). RIBA Executive Director Members Adrian Dobson said: “Commentary from participating practices continues to be generally positive. This is tempered by concerns that fee levels remain under pressure and the recent volatility of our key workload index suggests some uncertainty about the profession’s economic outlook. “Practices are not anticipating a significant increase in public and commercial sector work. However, many reported an increase in enquiries and work in progress from the bespoke residential and domestic extension markets. Once again, the private housing and commercial sectors represent the largest areas of growth.” ENDS Notes to editors: 1. For further press information contact Callum Reilly in the RIBA press office: callum.reilly@riba.org 020 7307 3757 2. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members.  Architecture.com Follow @RIBA on Twitter for regular updates www.twitter.com/RIBA 3. Completed by a mix of small, medium and large firms based on a geographically representative sample, the RIBA Future Trends Survey was launched in January 2009 to monitor business and employment trends affecting the architects’ profession. 4. The Future Trends Survey is carried out by the RIBA in partnership with the Fees Bureau. Results of the survey, including a full graphical analysis, are published each month at: http://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Professionalsupport/FutureTrendsSurvey.aspx 5. To participate in the RIBA Future Trends Survey, please contact the RIBA Practice Department on 020 7307 3749 or email practice@riba.org. The survey takes approximately five minutes to complete each month, and all returns are independently processed in strict confidence. 6. The definition for the workload balance figure is the difference between those expecting more work and those expecting less. A negative figure means more respondents expect less work than those expecting more work. This figure is used to represent the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index, which for March 2016 was +31 7. The definition for the staffing balance figure is the difference between those expecting to employ more permanent staff in the next three months and those expecting to employ fewer. A negative figure means more respondents expect to employ fewer permanent staff. This figure is used to represent the RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index, which for March 2016 was +10 Posted on Thursday 28th April 2016 Source link