There are just three weeks remaining before the deadline for entry into the Utility Week Awards 2016. The fourteen award categories are open to any company involved in the utilities sector, with the deadline for entries being 9 September. Companies producing, distributing and retailing energy or water. Other companies are welcome to enter jointly with utility partners. We are looking for those companies that go above and beyond the call of duty, so we will be asking you to demonstrate that you had ambitious aims, proportionate to the size of your company, and that you met or exceeded them. They recognise excellence across the industry, no matter what the sector, the size of the company or the scale of the project. Competition for these awards is fierce, and winning a place on the shortlist is an achievement in itself. We’ll honour all our winners, reveal who are the best of the best – and have a great night out – at the Grosvenor House hotel in Park Lane on 12 December. It’s the industry’s “Christmas party” and a great opportunity to join the great and good as they celebrate the year’s achievements. Entries will be judged by independent panels of industry experts. Our judges know the industry, so they are less impressed by a glossy entry than by one that clearly demonstrates achievements – and backs them up with evidence. So decide where your company has excelled: submit your entries by 9 September and get ready to celebrate your company’s achievements. The important dates to your diary are:  Call for entries – now open Entry deadline – Friday 9 September Shortlist announced – Friday 7 October Award ceremony – Monday 12 December Register your intention to enter here and receive an extra week on the entry deadline and be kept up to date with all the latest new regarding the awards. Utility Week would like to thank Capgemini, Vision Consulting, Tech Mahindra and Lowri Beck for their support of the 2016 Awards.   For more information, visit: www.utilityweekawards.co.uk Source link

Households across the UK believed that the value of their home rose in March with the imbalance between demand and supply underpinning house prices growth. Some 25.1% of the 1,500 households surveyed for the latest House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI) from Knight Frank and Markit Economics, across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 4% said that prices had fallen. This resulted in a HPSI reading of 60.5. This is the thirty-sixth consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. Households in every region perceived that the value of their home rose in March, however there were significant regional variations, reflecting wider trends in pricing across the UK market. Londoners perceived the biggest increase at 71.7, followed by those in the South East at 67.4 and East of England at 66.3. In Scotland and the North West the perceived rate of growth was slower at 53.3 and 54 respectively. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, rose in March to 71.6, from 69.8 in February. March’s reading was the highest recorded by the index since August 2014. The rise in future sentiment was driven by households in southern England, with those in the South East at 81, the East of England at 80.3 and London at 78.9 were notably more confident than those in the North East at 61.4 and Scotland also at 61.4. ‘The fundamentals for the UK housing market remain steady, especially around mortgage costs which remain at record lows. The imbalance between demand and supply of housing is also underpinning house prices. The delivery of new homes remains some 30 to 40% below the levels needed to start to address the annual shortfall of housing in the UK,’ said Gráinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘There have already been several large targeted government policies to try and boost development and ease the path of first time buyers and it is notable the future sentiment reading for 25 to 34 year olds is the highest it has been for 15 months,’ she pointed out. ‘As reflected in the index, the sound fundamentals of the market will combine to support overall prices in the coming year, but as the index also reveals, the market will continue to be multispeed across regions and price bands,’ she added. Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, explained that the latest survey is a clear signal that UK house prices have stayed on an upward trajectory throughout the first quarter of 2016. ‘One of the factors supporting price sentiment seems to be the expectation that interest rates will remain ultra-low for longer, and this belief has become more widespread so far this year. Households’ current price sentiment is stronger now than at any time over the past 17 months, but the economic landscape is not lacking in potential headwinds for buyer confidence,’ he said. ‘In particular, UK pay growth is uneven at best and slowing at worst, while at the same time some lenders have started to lower their maximum loan to income ratios. Stretched affordability is of course never far from any discussion of UK house prices but it could bite harder now for first time buyers, especially in London and surrounding hotspots,’ he added. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link

UK solar industry launches new initiative to raise standards Published:  04 July, 2016 The UK solar industry is celebrating its third ‘Solar Independence Day’ (Monday 4 July), the country’s annual celebration of solar energy, with the launch of a new initiative. To mark the occasion, which will see people all over the country post photos using the #SolarIndependence hashtag, the Solar Trade Association (STA) has launched its latest initiative to raise standards in the maintenance of big rooftop and ground mount solar systems. It is estimated that the UK now has almost 12GW of solar PV installed across homes, offices, schools, warehouses and on solar farms. This is enough to power the equivalent of 3.8 million homes and new analysis by MyGridGB for the STA has shown that solar generation peaked early last month at 23.9% of UK electricity demand – a new record for the UK. According to the latest statistics, there are currently just over 800,000 homes with solar PV and 200,000 with solar thermal systems, which means that the UK now has just over 1 million solar homes. The STA is keen to raise awareness of the fact that good quality operation and maintenance of solar systems is essential to ensuring their performance, longevity and safe working condition. The body wants to ensure that the sector goes beyond minimum standards and establishes best practice to raise the bar in this sector, and today launching its new initiative ‘Raising Standards in Solar PV Operations and Maintenance’, to build on the work that EU-level body SolarPower Europe has done. Mark Turner, chair of the STA’s Operations & Maintenance Working Group, and managing director of Lightsource Renewable Energy, said: “With this initiative we want to raise standards and establish best practice across the UK in solar PV operations and maintenance, making sure people are aware that preventative action can avoid costly corrective action later. Solar PV plants have no moving parts but are power plants like any other, and therefore safety has to be our primary concern.” Paul Barwell, CEO of the STA, commented: “The UK has successfully deployed almost 12GW of solar across the UK, providing nearly 25% during peak generation. This is what the country and the world needs to decarbonise the energy sector at the lowest price to the consumer. The government’s adoption of the fifth carbon budget is a good long term signal in this regard. “Solar Independence Day is about celebrating what a large group of small and medium sized businesses can achieve in a short period of time. We now need just one more push from the Government to help the solar sector reach its objective of zero subsidy by the early 2020s.” More details of the new initiative can be found online at: http://www.solar-trade.org.uk/category/resource-centre/ Source link

Total returns for buy to let property in England and Wales rose to 9.57% in the 12 months to the end of March, according to the latest buy to let index to be published. Overall buy to let portfolios fell 0.31% month on month, were up by 2.31% quarter on quarter, and by 9.57% year on year, the data from the Property Partner residential market index shows. The growth over 12 months has been led by London where buy to let returns increased by 16.49%, followed by the East of England with a rise of 13.18%, the South East 12.1% and the East Midlands 8.59%. The North West was not far behind with a rise of 8.44% and the South West at 8.42%. The West Midlands saw a rise of 6.08%, Yorkshire and Humberside 4.51% and the North East 2.57%. According to Rob Weaver, Property Partner’s director of investment the strong growth in the year to March 2016 was probably affected by property investors rushing to beat April’s additional home stamp duty deadline. ‘This was especially true of London, where annual returns were in double digits, reaching an eye-watering 16.5%. The East was strong too, and from first hand experience the Northern Powerhouse regeneration plan is boosting investment activity in the North West and in particular Manchester,’ he said. He pointed out that monthly figures can be volatile. ‘What’s clear is that regional disparities in the housing market are widening, with Yorkshire and Humberside and the North East regions looking fragile,’ he explained. He also pointed out that property investors are showing caution ahead of the referendum in June on the future of the UK’s position in the European Union. ‘But the fundamentals of high employment, wage growth, cheap borrowing and the chronic shortage of supply remain in place and are positive,’ he added. The index is the first regular dataset to combine rental income and capital growth to show the total rate of return of residential property investments over time. It is based on research carried out by the property crowdfunding platform Property Partner of Land Registry and ONS data. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link