The latest figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders has revealed that home-owners borrowed £8.7bn for house purchase, a 4% rise month-on-month and 21% year-on-year. According to the report, those taking their first steps onto the property ladder borrowed £3.4bn, up 3% on January and 21% on February last year. This totalled 22,000 loans, up 3% month-on-month and 11% year-on-year. Home movers borrowed £5.3bn, up 4% on January and up 20% compared to a year ago. This totalled 26,000 loans, up 4% month-on-month and up 14% on February 2015. Remortgage activity totalled £4.8bn, down 17% on January but up 37% compared to a year ago. This came to 28,400 loans, down 15% month-on-month but up 24% compared to a year ago. Landlords borrowed £3.7bn in February, unchanged month-on-month but up 61% year-on-year. This came to 23,700 loans in total, up 1% compared to January and up 47% compared to February 2015. Paul Smee, director general of the CML, commented: “In 2016, there have been substantial increases in house purchase and remortgage activity year-on-year. This reflects the sluggish market in early 2015, perhaps driven by election uncertainties. Buy-to-let has also seen substantial year-on-year increases, with particularly strong growth in remortgaging, a pattern which we have seen in the buy-to-let sector the past six months. Activity has been boosted by landlords seeking to complete purchases before tax changes in April. We do not expect activity to show such strong year-on-year growth later in the year.” Buy-to-let lending While gross buy-to-let lending increased month-on-month and substantially year-on-year, the monthly lending levels have remained relatively consistent the past six months. Remortgage remains the driver of increased activity recently in the buy-to-let sector, with 59% of gross buy-to-let lending being remortgage compared to just 27% in the home-owner space. Nicola Georgiou, Managing Director at Freedom Finance, commented: “Borrowers are continuing to take advantage of the low mortgage rates on offer in February. As interest rates remain at a record low and realistically do not look like they will be rising anytime soon. The increased activity experienced by the buy-to-let market at the start of the year continued into February as landlords looked to complete ahead of the new stamp duty rate introduced at the start of this month.” Source link

Third Party Cookies We use a number of social media tools to enhance visitor interaction on our site. If you already use these platforms their cookies may be set through our website. Data may then be collected by these companies that enables them to serve up adverts on other sites that they think are relevent to your interests. If you do not use such platforms then our site will not place these cookies on your device. Twitter Cookies: __utma, __utmb, __utmc, __utmv, __utmz, _sm_au_d, _twitter_sess, _twitter_sess, ab_sess_activity_ddg_126, ab_sess_activity_up_top_98, ab_sess_promoted_arrows_and_pills_78, ab_sess_Relevance_V1-49, ab_sess_search_relevance_ranked_hits_189, ab_sess_search_relevance_social_167, ab_sess_t1_actions_156, ab_sess_wtf_user_to_user_rec_155, auth_token, auth_token_session, dnt, external_referer, guest_id, k, lang, original_referer, pid, secure_session, t1, twid, twll Facebook Cookies: _e_0ITr_10, _e_bWDI_21, _e_bWDI_22, _e_bWDI_23, _e_bWDI_24, _e_CTMK_0, _e_CTMK_1, _e_CTMK_2, _e_e6Yv_0, _e_e6Yv_1, _e_e6Yv_2, _sm_au_d, act, c_user, c_user, datr, e, L, L, lu, presence, reg_ext_ref, reg_ext_ref, reg_fb_gate, reg_fb_gate, reg_fb_ref, reg_fb_ref, sct, sct, wd, x-referer, xs, xs Google Cookies: _sm_au_d, APISID, BEAT, HSID, IGTP, NID, OTZ, PP_TOS_ACK, PREF, S, S_awfe, SAPISID, SID, SS, SSID, ULS, W6D Microsoft Cookies: MC1, WT_FPC Source link

A Wirral based company has been fined £170,000 after a worker’s arm was injured in machinery. Warwick Crown Court heard how an installation engineer of Sovex Limited suffered a broken arm when it was pulled into machinery at the UK Mail site in Coventry, where he was commissioning a new conveyor belt system. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 21 January 2015, found there was a lack of effective guarding and isolation procedures on the machinery. Sovex Limited, of Prenton Business Park, Prenton Way, Prenton, Wirral, were found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £170,000 with £24,000 costs. For information on work equipment and machinery visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/ Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk   Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link

Date Event 17/03/16 Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, HSE Chair 15/03/16 Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, HSE Chair 18/02/16 Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, HSE Chair 21/01/16 Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, HSE Chair 03/12/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 20/10/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 13/10/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 08/10/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 15/09/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 30/06/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 17/03/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 05/03/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 04/03/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 22/01/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 21/01/15 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 10/12/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 27/11/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 19/11/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 17/11/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/11/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 13/11/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 06/11/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 22/10/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 23/09/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 18/09/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 11/09/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 03/09/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 16/07/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 07/07/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 23/06/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 11/06/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 05/06/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 28/01/14 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 5/12/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 29/11/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 22/11/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 19/11/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/11/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 12/11/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 22/10/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 18/06/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 23/05/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 15/05/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/05/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/03/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 07/02/13 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 08/11/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 30/10/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 19/10/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 03/10/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 25/09/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 06/07/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 04/07/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/06/12 – 15/06/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 11/06/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 17/05/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 20/03/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 17/01/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 05/01/12 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 25/11/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 22/11/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 04/10/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 15/09/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 13/09/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 05/09/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 06/06/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 12/05/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 31/03/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 31/03/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 09/03/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 01/03/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 02/02/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/01/11 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 07/12/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 26/11/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 23/11/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 17/11/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 16/11/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 21/10/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 06/10/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 28/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 24/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 24/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 22/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 21/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 17/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 09/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 02/06/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 21/05/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 06/05/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 29/04/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 21/04/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/04/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 24/03/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 11/03/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 10/03/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 09/03/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 16/02/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 12/02/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 14/01/10 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 10/12/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 03/12/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 02/12/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 30/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 26/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 24/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 20/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 18/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 11/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair 04/11/09 Judith Hackitt CBE, HSE Chair

ODVA, the organization that manages the EtherNet/IP technology, is bringing its training course, EtherNet/IP: Industrial Ethernet for the Internet of Things, to Spain this year.  Held concurrently with the IOT Solutions World Congress, the course will be held on Tuesday 25 October at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.   The one-day course will outline the business and technical value of EtherNet/IP, highlighting how its network services, peer-to-peer architecture and standards-based approach ease integration of data between the plant floor to the enterprise.  Distinctive services for functional safety, distributed motion, time synchronisation, energy management, and cybersecurity will also be covered.  The course sessions will be presented by experts from leading industrial companies such as Cisco, Endress+Hauser, Harting, Omron, Rockwell Automation and Schneider Electric. “Through its reliance on standard Internet and Ethernet standards, EtherNet/IP is the only industrial Ethernet network that is proven, complete, and ready for the Industrial Internet of Things,” said Katherine Voss, ODVA president and executive director.  “We invite users and equipment manufacturers to join ODVA at this important event in order to learn how EtherNet/IP will solve automation challenges, now and in the future.” There is no charge for attendees, but space is limited and registration is required.  Visit https://www.odva.org/Happenings/Events to learn more. Source link

Robotics, automation and artificial intelligence have been. But how much is reality and how much is scaremongering? Here’s what our think tank poll respondents say Join the Think Tank to have your opinion reflected here — editorial@fm-world.co.uk 15 September 2016 | FM World team newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk Rob Farman Some robotic support is inevitable  Between 1998 and 2000, I had a break from FM and worked as commercial manager at  BT’s R&D centre, Adastral Park, in Martlesham. Back then, articles in BT Technology Journal spoke about driverless cars.  Today, 16 years later, we are seeing some of that technology deployed to aid parking. We’re also seeing Google trialing driverless cars and Uber embarking on driverless taxis. Online retailer Amazon recently demonstrated how it uses both robots and people in its warehouse in Dunstable, and you may recall that Forth Valley Hospital won the BIFM Award for ‘FM Excellence in a Major Project’ in 2011, where “patients will never see trolleys of laundry, waste or food and drink being wheeled around because of the use of automatic guided vehicles”, or so-called ‘robotic porters’. Robotics will advance steadily from warehousing into retail and I can imagine driverless trucks delivering to supermarkets overnight and robotic assistants stacking shelves during the quiet hours when people would prefer not to work. I can also imagine driverless window cleaning cradles with robotic cleaners. So why not robotic mail sorting in the post room? Robotic mail delivery? Robotic cleaning in offices? Robotic catering? Rob Farman is principal at Abacus FMEC Chris Kane  Robot age calls for courage We need to adjust to the digital age, where choice is ubiquitous and the business landscape complex. FM is on the cusp of significant change, where harnessing AI and robotics will pose a big challenge for those intent on maintaining the status quo.  My business partner Euan Semple speaks about how “much of the routine busy-work that fills our days will be done by machines. They will get smarter and faster than we can imagine. Staying ahead of them will call for creativity, insights, and courage”. Could it help us get to grips with supporting both the people and the place agenda? That would be something of real business value. The alternative is steady decline. Chris Kane is principal at Chris Kane Associates Kat Fulton They’re coming – and retail’s leading the way The retail sector has made extensive use of robots in warehouses to help package and ship orders, but a new generation of robots is graduating from the ‘back of house’ into the shops. For example, the OSHbot; customers type on its touchscreen menu to find a particular item they want, then follow the robot to the product location. Other retailers, like Sephora, have recognised the potential to automate transactions by moving to digital shopping. Shops have little or no stock, acting more like a ‘try before you buy’ showroom, which requires fewer staff. At ISS, we always look to enhance service and make working life easier for our own people by developing and adopting new technologies. We recently entered a partnership with IBM for building sensor technology that delivers data to improve workplace performance. While process automation has brought demonstrable benefits, organisations still recognise the power of genuine human interaction, which we know excellent service experiences depend upon. For now, we can breathe a collective sigh of relief‚ but there’s no doubt that the robots are coming. Kat Fulton-Allen is solutions director, finance & retail services, ISS Facility Services James Spires AI will soon Play a greater role in buildings Robotics, automation and artificial intelligence are disruptive technologies that will play a key role in the future of our industry. Their vast scope is only just beginning to be recognised. In our own service delivery we are pioneering applications of robotic process automation to carry out a variety of tasks without risk of error or downtime. Aside from increases in productivity and efficiency, it will release more of an FM’s time to concentrate on the people-focused and customer service elements of the role. We see AI systems playing a greater role in disciplines such as air quality, environmental and energy management within buildings in the near future. The impact of AI or machine learning technologies will be a built environment that is more responsive to the behaviour of its occupants. FM providers will need to think and operate differently, embracing innovative start-ups and SMEs and partnering with them to get the best from fast-moving, new technologies. James Spires is strategy director for Engie   Source link