Teachers Building Society has announced today that it has launched a new 1.25% discounted variable rate Summer Special mortgage for those who work within the education industry. The product has a 2 year variable rate of 1.25% (3.74% discount from its SVR, currently 4.99%), at a maximum LTV of 60%. Andy Yates, Business Development Manager of Teachers Building Society, said: “This mortgage has a competitive rate and is aimed at meeting the needs of a teachers looking to purchase or remortgage. With tailored lending criteria, bespoke underwriting and the ability to lend up to five times joint income (subject to affordability), we can even consider Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) working on a one year contract, or teachers working on a supply or fixed term contract (if applying jointly with another permanently employed applicant).” Source link

There was a 0.5% rise in capital city dwelling values in June with Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart recording another substantial rise but five cities recorded falls. Higher dwelling values across Australia’s two largest  capital cities  continued to push the CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index to new record highs, with dwelling values across the combined capital cities  rising by 0.5% in June to be 8.3% higher over the past 12 months. The June results continued to show a rebound in housing market conditions after CoreLogic reported weaker results for the final quarter of 2015 when the combined capitals’ index was down 1.4%. However, the pace of capital gains in June was substantially lower than the April and May results when CoreLogic reported a 1.7%, and 1.6% month on month lift in capital city dwelling values. ‘The monthly growth rate reduction is likely to be very much welcomed by state and federal government policy makers and regulators who may be concerned about a sustained rebound in capital gains,’ said CoreLogic Asia Pacific research director Tim Lawless. He pointed out that home values in Sydney have been rising for four years, and have increased by a cumulative 59% over this time frame. Melbourne dwelling values have been rising for the same length of time and have moved 41% higher over the growth cycle to date. The combined capitals’ headline result was driven by a strong 1.2% rise in Sydney dwelling values, and a 0.8% gain across Melbourne’s housing market. Hobart values also showed strong conditions with dwelling values moving 1.8% higher over the month. A breakdown of the figure shows that in Sydney prices increases 1.2% month on month, 6.8% quarter on quarter and 11.3% year on year to a median price of $780,000 while in Melbourne they increased by 0.8%, 3.5% and 11.5% to $587,500. In Hobart growth was 1.8%, 1.9% and 6.2% to a median price of $341,500. In Brisbane prices fell 0.1% month on month but were still up 2.2% quarter on quarter and 5.3% year on year to a median price of $475,000 while in Adelaide they fell 1.3% month on month but were up 0.8% quarter on quarter and 2.2% year on year to $420,000. In Perth prices have fallen across the board, down 0.8% month on month, down 3% quarter on quarter and down 4.7% year on year to $505,000 with a similar story in Darwin with a month on month fall of 1.6% a quarter on quarter fall of 2.5% and a year on year fall of 1.1% to a median price of $510,000. Canberra is seeing prices fall for the first time in over a year. Values were down 1.1% month on month but still up 2.6% quarter on quarter and 3.9% year on year to a median price of $560,000. ‘While the higher rates of capital gains in Sydney and Melbourne can be tied back to strong economic conditions, and high rates of population growth, the same cannot be said for Hobart where economic conditions and migration rates are gradually improving from a low base,’ said Lawless. ‘The strength in the Hobart market comes after a long period of underperformance, where home values in the city increased by only 1.4% per annum over the past 10 years. Potentially, the Hobart housing market is being fuelled by the sheer affordability of housing and a renewed trend towards Melbourne and Sydney buyers unlocking their equity to make lifestyle housing purchases,’ he added. Based on the CoreLogic Index results over the first six months of the year, capital city dwelling values have moved 5.5% higher during 2016, with the most substantial capital gains located in Sydney with growth of 8.9%, Hobart up 8.5% and Melbourne up 5.8%.   Source link

Belgrade Polymer Products, a specialist supplier to the fenestration and construction sectors, celebrated the manufacture of its 20 millionth product this week – a Square External Boss End Capping for PVC-U conservatory roof systems. Belgrade Polymer Products, a specialist supplier to the fenestration and construction sectors, celebrated the manufacture of its 20 millionth product this week – a Square External Boss End Capping for PVC-U conservatory roof systems. Over the past decade, Belgrade Polymer Products has expanded into a wide range of sectors, including the window industry where it is currently working with several customers on creating new products for conservatory roof systems. New foiled finishes are being developed to expand its current comprehensive range, including a new carbon fibre-effect finish in ABS. General Manager Patrick Burke commented: “Twenty million products is a significant achievement of which we’re all very proud. It seems fitting that Belgrade Polymer Products has reached this impressive milestone in its 40th anniversary year. “As a specialist manufacturer of bespoke products tailored to clients’ individual requirements, we could not have reached this important milestone without the loyal support of our customers across many diverse industry sectors,” he added. In recent months, Belgrade Polymer Products has continued to invest in new equipment, including an extruder and other improvements to its production process and rapid prototyping facilities. The company, which has been supplying vacuum-forming and injection-moulding products since 1976, grew from manufacturing components for the water treatment industry. For more information, contact Belgrade Polymer Products on 01933 222205  Source link

Alford Techologies is currently acting as principal contractor on the RWE site and is overseeing the explosive demolition work. The company was brought in to work on the project in March, following the partical collapse in February. Speaking to Construction News, managing director Roland Alford said Alford had been tasked specifically with developing a method to demolish the structure remotely. He said: “To my knowledge, it’s never been attempted anywhere ever before, so we really had to start from the ground up when working out how to do it.” The company has spent months developing its plan for the explosive demolition and has invented a number of new explosive charges and connectors for use at Didcot. It has also trained operatives to use its 10 robots which have been prepared to begin planting charges at the site. The group received the green light to start work from the multi-agency strategic co-ordination group on Monday this week. Platic explosives have been imported in from Finland for the operation. The robots have been made by Irish company Reamda and British firm AB Precision, with the team also using Brokk remote-controlled demolition machines and lightweight tractors supplied by the Army Alford Technologies has used the robots to carry out laser scans of the existing structure to determine its condition, before carrying and planting explosive charges onto the columns holding it up. Different-sized robots are being used in tandem to place the charges precisely. Mr Alford said: ”Right now, the final charges are being placed and we’re using the lightweight tractor to carry the medium-sized robots, strapped onto a pallet onto site. These weigh 300-400 kilos. “The medium robot carries one of our charges, a special C-shaped charge, that it places over a girder to cut it. “And we’ve got a small robot on the side giving us a good perspective of that so we can get the placement accurate. “This has really been pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and what’s been done in the past.” The remaining structure consists of two boiler units, which are effectively two separate, but linked, buildings. There are six columns in total holding up the structure, in three rows of two, and Mr Alford said that the explosives will cut and kick out the middle two legs first before quickly doing the same to the outer legs on the south side of the structure. “That will drop the building and the boiler will start moving. The building will actually hinge over the northern stanchions,” he said. “Then there’s only one direction it can collapse in, so there’s no chance of it skewing sideways or falling towards the debris pile, which is obviously totally unacceptable. “The whole purpose of being here is to facilitate the recovery of the three guys.” The bodies of three Coleman & Co employees – Ken Cresswell, John Shaw and Chris Huxtable – remain trapped under the collapsed portion of the boiler house. Another worker, Michael Collings, was found dead shortly after the collapse on 23 February. Mr Alford also said that the vast majority of his team are ex-military personnel with a “built-in understanding of grief and loss”, which has helped when keeping the families of the missing men informed of progress. “When the families first came here they were very upset about the delays,” he said. “When they started talking to our guys, they said they trusted us and that they believed us, because they realised that our guys take it very personally. “For a long time we were operating in the shadows and no-one was aware of what we were doing, so it didn’t look like much was happening. “But actually an awful lot was [being done], we were doing lots of testing and development of the charges, and our training. “No-one’s sitting there wondering what to do – we’ve been working flat out for months now. Everyone’s just totally motivated to make this a success and do it as quickly as possible.” RWE had written to local residents earlier this week to tell them that demolition was scheduled to take place tomorrow. Once the building has been brought down and an inspection carried out, Brown and Mason will oversee the removal of material.   Source link

Accord Buy To Let has announced today that it has launched a new five-year fixed rate range which includes added incentives. According to the intermediary-only lender, the new products are available to remortgaging landlords with a 25% or 40% deposit and come with some no-product completion fee options. Highlights of the five-year fixed rate range, which are all available with free standard valuation and the choice of either standard legal fees or £300 cashback on completion, include: • 2.99% five-year fixed rate mortgage at 60% LTV with no product completion fee • 2.99% five-year fixed rate mortgage at 75% LTV with a £1,845 fee Accord has also reduced rates on selected fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.15%. Highlights include a competitive 1.84% two-year fix at 60% LTV for landlords looking to remortgage, with a £1,845 fee, free standard valuation and a choice of either free standard legal fees or £300 cashback on completion. Chris Maggs, Accord’s Buy to Let Commercial Manager, said: “We’re constantly reviewing our buy-to-let mortgages to offer the best fit for landlords. Our new five-year fixes, coupled with the rate reductions, provide a choice of competitive deals across our entire mortgage range to suit every landlord’s requirements.   We hope the additional incentives, and choice of no product completion fee options, will minimise the cost for landlords when they take out a remortgage on a property.”   Source link