This year looks like being a record for new home building in Australia but the outlook for 2017 is not buoyant with predictions that it could be very different as new homes sales are falling. The monthly survey of Australia’s largest volume builders by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) reveals that total seasonally adjusted new home sales fell by 9.7% in July 2016 following an increase of 8.2% the previous month. HIA chief economist Harley Dale said that the overall trend decline in new home sales is accelerating, signalling a relatively sharp drop from a record high in new dwelling commencements from 2017. ‘New home construction has been the kingmaker of the Australia economy, but the cycle has peaked. In all likelihood we will experience sharper falls in new home construction in both 2017 and 2018,’ he explained. ‘The magnitude of decline in new home construction in coming years will of course be exaggerated by where we are coming from and that is record levels of medium/high density construction and historically healthy levels of detached/semi-detached dwelling construction,’ he pointed out. ‘There will no doubt be a tendency to sensationalise any negative results for new housing as the trajectory of the down cycle unfolds. We would do well to remember that this down cycle is following a record high that is some 24% higher than the previous peak in 1994 and that there is an unprecedented degree of uncertainty this time around as to how the next few years of new home building unfold,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures shows that detached house sales fell in all five mainland states in July after rising everywhere in June. Sales dropped by 12.6% in South Australia and were down by 8.7% in Queensland, by 8.2% in Western Australia, by 6.2% in New South Wales, and by 6% in Victoria. Dale also explained that the current new home building boom is unlike any other that has come before it. It is the longest and largest in Australia’s history but he added that it is marked by substantial regional divergences in the levels of activity in various markets around the country and the mix of dwelling types being built has changed dramatically. ‘As the down cycle in new home building unfolds, the record pipeline of medium/high density dwellings in particular creates considerable uncertainty as to the timing and magnitude of the decline in construction,’ he concluded. HIA’s forecasts are for a peak of over 232,500 new dwelling commencements to have been reached in 2015/2016, which will be followed by three consecutive years of decline. New dwelling commencements are forecast to bottom out at a level of around 166,500 in 2018/2019.   Source link

The Department for Communities and Local Government has delayed its decision on Peel Environmental’s Bilsthorpe Energy Centre, reports Construction News’ sister title Materials Recycling World, because of concerns that its 95,000-tonnes-a-year plasma gasification plant uses similar technology to Air Products’ Tees Valley facilities, which were scrapped earlier this month. The DCLG has now invited stakeholders to comment on any implications that Air Products’ withdrawal could have for the Nottinghamshire site so that communities secretary Greg Clark can make a “fully informed” decision. A letter sent by Mr Clark yesterday (12 April) asserts that the delay “should not be read as any indication as to his attitude to the appeal proposal”. He added: “It has very recently been drawn to [my] attention that Air Products announced on 4 April that it is exiting from its EfW business as it has failed to overcome the technological difficulties, and has abandoned its Tees Valley plasma and gasification plants due to ‘design and operational challenges’. “In view of this announcement by Air Products, and the fact that it was not disputed at the inquiry that the Bilsthorpe Energy Centre would use the same technology, the secretary of state considers it appropriate to give the parties to the Bilsthorpe case an opportunity to comment on any implications which the reasons leading to this announcement might have for the Bilsthorpe scheme as currently proposed.” Recipients of the letter have until 26 April to make comments, with Mr Clark making his decision “as soon as possible” after that. A DCLG spokesman later confirmed to MRW: “We have received new evidence concerning this case which we must give due consideration and all parties the opportunity to comment. A decision will be issued in due course.” The application was called in by previous communities secretary Eric Pickles in December 2014. Air Products announced it was quitting the EfW sector on 4 April, pulling the plug on its two gasification facilities on Teesside. A statement from the US-based company said leaving the sector would cost between $900m and $1bn (£630m to £700m) in writing down its EfW assets. The initial facility in the North-east, TV1, was expected to be completed this year, while the identical but partially complete plant TV2 was mothballed in November because development of TV1 was taking longer than expected. Source link

5 August 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal The engineering, IT and facilities services business – which provides planned preventative and reactive fabric maintenance as well as critical environment management – reported turnover of £408m for the year 2015/16. This represents a rise of 12 per cent from the previous year’s figure of £365m. Operating profit also increased year on year, from £2m to £6m. The group attributes its strong results to the success of its diversification strategy. In a statement accompanying its results, the company said that the last four years have seen NG Bailey “place an emphasis on better balancing its portfolio of work across services (IT, energy and facilities management), larger scale infrastructure projects and traditional building construction”. This growth has been achieved alongside a £2m investment in sectors including energy management and smart buildings, as well as a “continued annual investment of £3m in training and development”. David Hurcomb, chief executive of NG Bailey, said: “Our operating performance demonstrates that our strategy to achieve a better-balanced business has worked”. Source link