The University of Durham has opened bidding for a contractor to design, build, finance and operate a £100m student accommodation contract. Source link
2 July 2016 – by David Hatcher The UK real estate market faces the prospect of another credit crunch as lenders come to terms with an impending Brexit. Some major property financiers expect to be curtailed by having to hold more capital in reserve against their loans to safeguard against
The ONS data showed that the total volume of construction output fell but was 0.2 per cent higher year-on-year. Output had increased by 0.5 per cent in July compared with June in the immediate aftermath of the vote to leave the European Union, but has showed signs of slipping according
Erika Pärn has carried out studies to look into how construction methods that are more technologically advanced could change the industry and how they carry out mapping for entire buildings, cities and road networks. Erika is a Lecturer at Birmingham University and specialises in Architectural Technology. She has shown through
Canary Wharf Contractors has posted its financial results for 2015, showing a near 7% drop in turnover and a 44% fall in profits before tax. Above: Projects completed in 2015 include the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf Turnover for 2015 was £125.0m (2014: £134.1m) and pre-tax profit was £2.3m
The University of Durham has opened bidding for a contractor to design, build, finance and operate a £100m student accommodation contract. Source link
2 July 2016 – by David Hatcher The UK real estate market faces the prospect of another credit crunch as lenders come to terms with an impending Brexit. Some major property financiers expect to be curtailed by having to hold more capital in reserve against their loans to safeguard against the heightened risk of losses caused by a dip in asset values. A drying-up of credit would be an eerie echo of 2007 before the 2008 global financial crisis, although overall levels of debt are much more comfortable than a decade ago. A head of real estate at one of the UK’s largest domestic lenders told Estates Gazette that the firm expected a “starving of the front line of capital”, that its loan book would be downsized, and that it would become “much more selective” about against what and to whom it lends. ‘Slotting’ regulations introduced in 2013 require UK banks to hold capital reserves against their loans, dependent on how risky they are perceived to be. All the content from this weekís magazine, including this article, is available in the new app. Peter Cosmetatos, chief executive of CREFC Europe, the trade association for the commercial real estate finance industry, said: “It is absolutely inevitable that in the short term there will be less credit available and it will get more expensive. “UK clearers will have a cautious approach. Whether that is due to an adjustment caused by re-slotting loans, moving along the [risk] scale, and as a result there are higher capital requirements, or whether they are just cautious of the market is unclear – it will probably be both.” The chief executives of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered, among others, attended a Bank of England “fireside chat” on Wednesday and were urged to keep lending in the face of extreme uncertainty over asset prices. The next day, Singaporean lender United Overseas Bank announced it was suspending UK lending to “ensure customers are cautious with their London property investments”. One German lender abandoned a deal to finance the purchase of a regional office and increased its margin on a London office deal by 30bps, expecting that a fall in value would see the loan rise from 50% to 55% loan-to-value. Despite concerns that credit will dry up, the prospect for high levels of distress due to a fall in values is much less than in the previous cycle. Research by De Montfort University and Savills shows loan-to-values for prime UK offices stand at 65%, compared with 82% in 2005. All the banks contacted by Estates Gazette said they had not shut for business. Source link
The ONS data showed that the total volume of construction output fell but was 0.2 per cent higher year-on-year. Output had increased by 0.5 per cent in July compared with June in the immediate aftermath of the vote to leave the European Union, but has showed signs of slipping according to the ONS. The only sector to report an increase month-on-month was private commercial by 1.5 per cent as well as a 3.6 per cent year-on-year increase in August. Commercial activity is now at its highest monthly level since May. All other sectors saw a decline, with notable falls in public R&M work (-6.3 per cent), infrastructure (-5.0 per cent) and private industrial (-2.7 per cent). ONS senior statistician Kate Davies said: “Construction output has fallen back quite sharply in recent months and contracted by 1.5% in August. As the fall this month is led by infrastructure, it seems unlikely that post-referendum uncertainties are having an impact. “Monthly construction data can be quite erratic, though, so we would warn against trying to read too much into one set of figures.” Note of caution on ONS construction data. Clearly an issue with infrastructure data given that activity has been rising in the past year… pic.twitter.com/d6ad9m1l0b — Noble Francis (@NobleFrancis) October 14, 2016 But Markit senior economist Chris Williamson argued that the figures showed construction was “on course for its worst quarter for four years and at risk of heading back into recession”. “Survey data provide a ray of hope, suggesting conditions may have stabilised in September, but it’s clear that the sector remains under pressure from widespread uncertainty about the economic outlook and that growth has, at the very least, consequently slowed considerably since earlier in the year,” he said. Data from the Markit/CIPS Construction PMI showed the industry recovered slightly in August and has since returned to growth in September. Overall, all new work dipped by 1.4 per cent in August, compared with July, but it was nevertheless 1.1 per cent higher year-on-year. On a monthly basis, private housing output dropped by 1.1 per cent compared with July after posting an increase immediately after the EU referendum, but output in the sector was still 9.4 per cent higher year-on-year. Have revisions to ONS stats taught us nothing?? August stats up yoy. Keep calm. — Tom Fitzpatrick (@CNTomFitz) October 14, 2016 Public other new work was also 2.5 per cent higher year-on-year, despite posting a 1.6 per cent monthly decline. Public R&M (-14.6 per cent) and private industrial (-13 per cent) both saw double-digit year-on-year falls in output. Source link
Erika Pärn has carried out studies to look into how construction methods that are more technologically advanced could change the industry and how they carry out mapping for entire buildings, cities and road networks. Erika is a Lecturer at Birmingham University and specialises in Architectural Technology. She has shown through her research that technology could have a significant impact on the mapping abilities of the construction industry. It is thought that digital building techniques can be used in order to radically transform infrastructure and communities. This could be the redesigning of an international tourist hotspot or the redevelopment of slums and shanty towns. It is thought that the work in to this field that has been carried out by Erika Pärn is groundbreaking. Her research was recently presented as part of one of the major international infrastructure conferences which took place in Ghana. At this conference Erika gave the keynote speech. The speech was delivered by Erika to a large audience, among them was the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology as well as the Ashanti Minister and the Mayor of Kumasi. As part of her presentation of the conference in Ghana, Erika Pärn showed that using the technology that is slowly coming on to the market can give a clearer idea of how people use land and infrastructure in order to be cleverer with designing and create communities that are more responsive as well as delivering a number of different cost savings when carrying out schemes that ae government funded. Erika Pärn’s research focused on technologies that are currently being utilizes when creating modern commercial spaces and how they can be adapted in order to design smarter cities that are built with the proper facilities and amenities to suit the inhabitants’ needs whether they are affluent or more deprived. Technology like Building Information Modeling are usually used individually on a project, but it is thought that by merging them with other both new and established technologies can be used together in order to help decide on the best locations for infrastructure development.
Canary Wharf Contractors has posted its financial results for 2015, showing a near 7% drop in turnover and a 44% fall in profits before tax. Above: Projects completed in 2015 include the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf Turnover for 2015 was £125.0m (2014: £134.1m) and pre-tax profit was £2.3m (2014: £4.2m). The balance sheet shows the company’s net assets were £11.48m at 31st December 2015, up from £9.18m a year before (restated). This article was published on 8 Jul 2016 (last updated on 8 Jul 2016). Source link
