Browser does not support script. Contact us The Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) President, Stephen Hodder, has given the Institute’s initial reaction to today’s Queen’s Speech.  Of particular interest to the RIBA were:  Housing Bill – including measures to increase the supply of Starter Homes and simplify the neighbourhood planning system Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill – to give greater powers to councils and local communities RIBA President Stephen Hodder said: ‘We welcome the Government’s commitment to housebuilding, but it is vital that the pressure to quickly alleviate the housing crisis doesn’t lead to sub-standard homes and communities. The RIBA supports the building of more low-cost homes on brownfield sites but high quality design and infrastructure are essential to create desirable homes that meet the needs of current and future generations. ‘Whilst we are pleased to see the Government’s commitment to neighbourhood planning, we remain deeply concerned by the loss of expertise and capacity from local authority planning teams and are cautious that the pressure to speed up the process could put the design quality of developments at risk. ‘Decentralising power from Central Government to English cities is essential to support a growing and balanced UK economy. We welcome the Government’s commitment to give cities the freedom to make big decisions on local transport, housing and skills. Cities must also be able to raise finance and retain income to invest in local priorities, including high quality housing and innovative infrastructure.’ RIBA set out a vision for the new Government in the Building a Better Britain report. ENDS Notes to editors: 1. For further press information contact Melanie Mayfield, RIBA Press Office melanie.mayfield@riba.org 020 7307 3662 2. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members www.architecture.com  3. Follow us on Twitter for regular RIBA updates www.twitter.com/RIBA   Posted on Wednesday 27th May 2015 Search architecture.com just start typing and hit enter again × Browser does not support script. Browser does not support script. Source link

Some £8.2 million of housing wealth was withdrawn in the UK every working day in the second quarter of 2016 as equity release lending passed £0.5 billion for the first quarter on record. Overall there was £514.4 million of lending in quarter two, up 34% year on year and 58% higher than in the second quarter of 2014, according to the latest figures from the Equity Release Council. The council report points out that the three busiest quarters for equity release lending have all come within the last 12 months and the annual rise in the number of new plans agreed is the fastest seen in 13 years. Common uses for equity release include paying off existing mortgages and loans, providing extra retirement income, funding home improvements or care related adaptations, paying for travel or other one off expenses, and gifting money to family members as a ‘living inheritance’. The council also says that over 55s increased appetite to use housing wealthy has been supported by market developments which include new providers and increasing choice of products and features emerging. In addition, the market received support from the regulator in April when they amended the legislation to allow optional interest repayments to be exempt from mortgage affordability rules. Year on year, the council’s figures show the biggest percentage growth in the value of lending in the second quarter of the year was for lump sum lifetime mortgages, typically involving a larger release of housing wealth in a single payment, up 37% or £56.8 million  compared to the second quarter of 2015. However, lending via drawdown lifetime mortgages, allowing consumers to make multiple withdrawals of equity as and when needed, continued to account for the larger share of the market, growing 31% or £72.4 million to £304 million compared to the second quarter of 2015. Home reversion plans also experienced a rise in the second quarter of 2016 with the total value of activity more than doubling year on year from £623,647 in the second quarter of 2015 to £1.5 million. Looking at new customers’ product choices, some 67% opted for drawdown products in the second quarter, up from 65% a year earlier, while the share of lump sum products dipped slightly from 35% to 33%. With market activity having grown significantly during that time, the number of new drawdown plans agreed was up 27% year on year compared with 16% for lump sum plans. Overall, it meant the total volume of new plans agreed across the whole market was up 23% year on year, the highest annual growth rate in nearly 13 years since the third quarter of 2003. The 6,671 new plans agreed was the largest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2008. ‘These figures are the latest sign that UK home owners increasingly see housing wealth as a fundamental part of their retirement funding plans. The long term rise of house prices has allowed many older homeowners to build up considerable reserves of housing equity, which have the potential to solve many of the financial challenges facing the UK’s ageing population,’ said Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council. ‘Growing demand from consumers since the recession has been met by a concerted effort from the sector to grow the range of available products and the reach of specialist advice. Looking ahead, this work will continue with an increasing focus on building relationships within the sector and with related markets such as residential mortgages and later life planning, so consumers can be referred for advice on equity release when it can help their circumstances,’ he pointed out. ‘There is also an important role for government and regulators when it comes to financial education. As well as helping savers to understand the choices offered by the ‘pension freedoms’, it is just as important to help homeowners understand the options they have to put themselves on a stronger financial footing in later life,’ he added. According to Steve Wilkie, managing director of Responsible Equity Release, drawdown continues to provide a lifeline for those seeking to top up day to day finances, particularly in the current low interest rate environment.  ‘The flexibility of drawing money as and when required, without being charged interest until it’s drawn, makes it an appealing option for those looking for an additional income stream. And drawdown is only likely to grow in popularity in this new world of greater pension freedom,’ he said. ‘With more flexibility in how we invest our pensions, many are choosing to keep their pensions invested rather than buying an annuity. The downside is that they are more exposed to fluctuating stock markets. That’s fine when markets are going up, but when shares are tumbling, people are faced with dipping into their pensions at a time when they should be leaving well alone. Drawdown provides an income tap that can be turned on in these uncertain periods, riding out the bad times until markets recover,’ he explained. ‘Customers taking out lump sums are tending to have larger shopping lists as equity release becomes far more of a family decision. Paying off mortgages still accounts for more than a quarter of the larger lump sum releases we handle. But 45% of those taking lump sums have at least three beneficiaries of the cash being released, and this is pushing customers, who choose the lump sum route, to release larger amounts from their properties,’ he added. Alice Watson, product and communications manager at Retirement Advantage Equity Release, believes that equity release is now firmly establishing itself in the retirement finance mainstream. She pointed out that over the past three months there have been new entrants to the market, fresh partnerships and a welcome change to the Financial Conduct Authority’s affordability assessments. ‘These developments have contributed to equity release’s already surging popularity. This huge increase in lending has come despite unprecedented political and economic uncertainty ahead of the European Union referendum,’ she pointed out. ‘That speaks volumes about the resilience of the sector. It’s too early to

Carlyle Group has beaten rival private equity groups to reach a $3.2bn deal with Total for the French company’s Atotech chemicals business. The sale takes the energy group closer to its target for $10bn of disposals by the end of next year. Total and its rivals are all seeking to shed non-core assets in response to continued weakness in oil and gas prices. Carlyle faced competition from CVC Capital Partners and a consortium of BC Partners and Cinven, according to people involved in the process. Asset disposals have become an important part of efforts by Total and other oil majors to shore up their balance sheets and defend their dividends since crude prices plunged two years ago. Friday’s deal lifted Total’s proceeds from disposals since the start of 2015 to $8.6bn — more than 80 per cent of the $10bn target set for the end of next year. Analysts have speculated that this figure could be revised upward. Other Total assets up for sale include parts of its North Sea oil and gas portfolio. A queue of big energy groups is trying to reduce exposure to one of the world’s oldest and highest-cost offshore basins. However, weak oil prices have made upstream exploration and production businesses hard to offload as potential buyers seek fire-sale prices while sellers hold out for a so-far elusive recovery. Recent deal activity has been heavily concentrated in mid- and downstream assets including pipelines, refineries and marketing businesses, as well as chemicals units such as Atotech. Analysts said the $3.2bn sale price for Atotech — 11.9 times 2015 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation — was in line with expectations. The Berlin-based business makes chemicals for circuit boards and semiconductors used in electronics. People involved in the process said Carlyle was eliminated from an earlier round of bidding, leaving BC Partners and Cinven in pole position. However, a deal failed to materialise and Carlyle was invited in recent weeks to table a fresh offer. The auction was run by Barclays. Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive of Total, said Carlyle would “enable Atotech to pursue its growth ambitions” — hinting at the constraints on his own company’s ability to finance expansion at a time when capital expenditure is under intense pressure from low oil prices. Other businesses earmarked for sale by Total include its Italian petrol station joint-venture with ERG, the Italian energy company. Disposals and cost-cuts have helped Total weather the downturn in energy prices better than some rivals. Its earnings fell by 30 per cent in the second quarter — but this was half the average 60 per cent drop suffered by Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron. Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. Source link

8 July 2016 | Jamie Harris Facilities services provider ABM UK has named Andy Donnell as managing director for its Business and Industry group. Donnell began his career as an apprentice electrician before taking on roles in operations and account management. He joined Westway in January 2007 and oversaw two management buyouts in 2009 and 2014.   ABM acquired Westway last year, after previously acquiring OmniServ in 2012 and GBM in 2014. Source link