Aquaspira, which specialises in producing large low carbon pipes for the construction, housing, utilities and infrastructure industries, has made further strides in its ambitious target to achieve zero carbon production by the end of the decade. A £45,000 investment has been made to switch to electric forklifts at its site
Modular Group Investments Limited (MGI), a rapidly growing group focused on acquiring businesses around the off-site manufacturing sector has completed another acquisition this year with the purchase of the entire share capital of Barton Windows Limited, a 35-year-old aluminium fenestration business based in Barton-upon-Humber North Lincolnshire. The latest acquisition continues
Locatee, the leading workplace analytics solution, has raised 8.4m USD (7.7m CHF) in a Series B growth-financing round led by the European growth equity fund SmartFin. The funding will underwrite the further innovation of Locatee’s platform that leverages existing IT infrastructure for office occupancy data utilization and management support of
The latest property market analysis by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed that in the last 25 years, the cost of stamp duty has increased by 490% for the average homebuyer. Now that the stamp duty holiday is done and dusted, the average homebuyer in England
Hundreds of thousands of businesses promised business rates reliefs through the £1.5 billion Government Business Rates Relief Fund have still not received a penny, despite promises made by the Government last Spring. In March, the Government took the unprecedented step of announcing it would legislate that Material Change of Circumstance
Commercial property estate agency Ernest Wilson has sold Bradford timber merchants Baildon Timber to the Myers Group, a Huddersfield-based building supplies business, for £1 million. The Myers Group, which has been owned and run by the same family for four generations and employs 350 people across West Yorkshire, now plans
Many homes within the UK need major structural work carried out on them to make them safe. In a lot of cases, it is actually far better to knock the house down and start again. Not only can the home then benefit from a more modern design structure, but it
Research from the national estate agent, Keller Williams UK, explains why UK house price growth could remain buoyant until at least summer 2022. House prices have reached phenomenal highs since the start of the pandemic, a shortage of supply and ever-increasing demand means homes are selling for handsome sums and
Research from the national estate agent, Keller Williams UK, reveals the most expensive areas to buy a home across 18 major cities in England, and how much more they will cost you compared to the city wide average. House prices have been hitting historic highs across England, soaring by more
As the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund opens to applications, Kensa Contracting is urging local authorities and housing associations in England to act now and bid for a portion of the £160 million available in 2021/22 to install highly efficient low carbon ground source heat pumps to tackle climate change and
Aquaspira, which specialises in producing large low carbon pipes for the construction, housing, utilities and infrastructure industries, has made further strides in its ambitious target to achieve zero carbon production by the end of the decade. A £45,000 investment has been made to switch to electric forklifts at its site in Nelson, Lancashire. AquaSpira will also start installing solar panels in November to generate electricity for the site, allowing the forklifts to be charged using renewable energy. AquaSpira Managing Director Neil Wallace explained: “We are investing in a series of initiatives to make our production process more environmentally friendly in line with our Research & Development innovations to de-carbonise through pipe design and sensors. This has included the use of recycled materials in our manufacturing, the installation of solar panels and reducing our road mileage. Investment must be based on a return on capital and while reducing our carbon footprint we can also be more competitive. “It’s all about making sensible decisions for the good of both our company and our workforce. Choosing electric forklifts will help us cut not only our carbon footprint but also our running costs. Due to their low energy consumption, the forklift trucks only need to be charged every couple of days. There are also no emissions so it is much safer for the team, especially on the factory floor. “This in-house work supports the huge strides we are making in helping housing and commercial developers and the transport industry considerably reduce their impact on the environment through their drainage specifications.” As well as supporting leaner and cleaner operations, electric trucks have the added benefit of being future-proof, given the impending end to red diesel subsidies that could see the running costs of diesel trucks soar. Aquaspira’s drive to achieve zero carbon production doesn’t stop there, a six-figure investment into Research and Development (R&D) is already paying dividends, with Aquaspira boasting its first drainage product using recycled material. A further significant investment has seen the delivery of a new research laboratory at its Nelson-based headquarters. The company is working in partnership with the University of Birmingham on its R&D to develop a digital twin to improve design and to investigate the use of recycled materials for backfill to reduce carbon usage in the construction sector. This research can make a huge step-change in helping the sector achieve Government de-carbonisation targets. The R&D is also looking at the use of sensors in pipes for long term monitoring and maintenance of systems which will contribute to the life cycle of the product Aquaspira’s unique light weight composite pipe already reduces the number of vehicle movements and fuel consumption when compared to traditional concrete products. A significant advantage with the current shortage of haulage drivers. Aquaspira is also on course to eliminate landfill waste from its North West site and is installing digital media to reduce road mileage. Overall the company believes that it is on target to save 126 tonnes per annum. Neil concludes: “We have been watching events at COP26 with interest and feel every company, whether large or small, has a role to play in reducing carbon consumption. We will continue to drive innovation, both in our products and the way we run our business, so we can help utility companies, housebuilders and the wider infrastructure and construction sectors reduce their impact on the environment.”
Modular Group Investments Limited (MGI), a rapidly growing group focused on acquiring businesses around the off-site manufacturing sector has completed another acquisition this year with the purchase of the entire share capital of Barton Windows Limited, a 35-year-old aluminium fenestration business based in Barton-upon-Humber North Lincolnshire. The latest acquisition continues to diversify MGI’s customer base and adds huge synergistic value to the group whilst also complementing MGI’s existing aluminium product portfolio of cladding and decking branded ‘Euralite’ launched only last month. The transaction closed on 14 October 2021. MGI were advised by Hempsons (legal). Michael Garratt,founder/CEO at MGI said: “I am pleased to add Barton to our group and look forward to future acquisitions that can add huge strategic value. This opportunity significantly increases our aluminium product portfolio which will better serve our customer needs. We are delighted to be working with the experienced team at Barton and look forward to a promising future together” Nick Cowley, MGI Group MD commented: Barton Windows provides MGI with a new route to market and customer base within construction. The products supplied by Barton interfaced with our own Euralite aluminium system will create a complete envelope system for our clients, providing them a total solution from a dependable supplier. Chris Butters,Chair at MGI stated: Barton represents a timely acquisition and is highly accretive to earnings due to the organic growth opportunities that are available between our subsidiary operations, once integrated these will represent a strong product portfolio for customers and a broader-base for our colleagues to work within. This is a logical deal that integrates businesses with good legacy characteristics and a proactive approach to customer expectations. For more information, please contact michael@modulargroupinvestments.co.uk
Locatee, the leading workplace analytics solution, has raised 8.4m USD (7.7m CHF) in a Series B growth-financing round led by the European growth equity fund SmartFin. The funding will underwrite the further innovation of Locatee’s platform that leverages existing IT infrastructure for office occupancy data utilization and management support of workspace ecosystems centered on employee experience, safety, and productivity. “The last year has been quite the ride for Locatee – even with the market being in a pinch due to the pandemic, we could still see how our solution is highly valued and sought after”, said Thomas Kessler, co-founder and CEO of Locatee. “Together with the board, employees, and stakeholders, we looked at the market signs, and saw the opportunity to double down on growth and value creation, selecting SmartFin to lead this push with us”. SmartFin, a firm with c. 380m EUR assets under management, led the 8.4m USD funding round that included new investors such as Zürcher Kantonalbank, Swiss Immo Lab, and Verve Ventures, as well as previous investors FYRFLY Venture Partners and Tomahawk VC. The new funding adds momentum to Locatee’s Series A round that raised 4m USD in 2020. “SmartFin’s strategy is to work with European market-leading technology companies to help them build and grow”, said Jürgen Ingels, SmartFin Founding Partner. “Locatee has proven to be brilliant in establishing a strong, leading position in a new, exciting and fast-growing market and we believe this is a key time to build from this leading position and create the new standard for workplace data”. High growth marketLocatee is leading the occupancy analytics market that is estimated to grow to more than 5bn USD by 2025. This growth is underpinned by the transformation of the role of the office, which accelerated with the Covid-19 pandemic. The onus is on businesses to experiment and validate their office spaces and thus use real-time utilization data. Locatee helps corporate companies resolve the tension between creating the right work experience and making the correct investment in their workspaces. People at the center of the work experienceLocatee has already upended the workplace analytics market by providing value for Forbes Global 2000 companies, automating once manual systems counting exhaustive badge data for measuring building occupancy. Companies are pressed to enable new ways of work, reduce their footprint, and improve employee health, wellbeing, productivity and experience. Locatee’s capacities, generate data that brings together the built environment and the people that occupy it. “The vision for Locatee’s solution which convinced us before continues to receive validation by both the market and the developments in the corporate world,” said Philipp Stauffer, co-founder and managing director at FYRFLY Venture Partners – a repeat Locatee investor. “We have built capabilities that have created a new category and established us as a market leader; we now look at realizing the full potential of the market, as it wakes up to this new world of work.”
The latest property market analysis by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed that in the last 25 years, the cost of stamp duty has increased by 490% for the average homebuyer. Now that the stamp duty holiday is done and dusted, the average homebuyer in England will once again pay the government for the pleasure of purchasing their own home, a bill of £3,548 on the current average house price to be exact. Thanks to a house price boom spurred by the stamp duty holiday itself, that’s a tax bill some 44% higher than the average stamp duty paid prior to its introduction. In fact, in the last 25 years, the cost of stamp duty has never been higher, despite the effective rate being paid falling below one percent when the old ‘slab’ structure was abolished in December 2014 and replaced by the new ‘slice’ system. When removing both unique instances of the recent SDLT holiday and the reprieve granted in 2009 in the wake of the financial crisis, the average cost of stamp duty has increased by an average of 8.4% every year since 1997. In fact, other than the two occasions where stamp duty was paused and reduced, the tax bill paid by homebuyers has only seen a year on year decline on four other occasions. The first three of these came prior to, and following, the initial stamp duty break in 2009 as house prices continued to decline following the financial crisis. The other materialised in 2015 following the switch from a ‘slab structure’ to a ‘slice’ structure whereby a property paid a percentage of stamp duty at each value threshold, rather than a full percentage based on the single threshold at which is sat. The cost of £3,548 now faced by the average homebuyer is also a whopping 490% more than the £601 paid back in 1997. Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented: “With the latest generation of homebuyers enjoying a taste of stamp duty free property purchases there are renewed calls for its complete abolition but, as always, these will continue to go unheard. Over the last 25 years, the government has become very good at fuelling buyer demand while failing to address the housing crisis and building more homes. This has worked very nicely for them where an increased cost in stamp duty is concerned and their free slice of the pie, cut from the savings of struggling homebuyers, has continued to climb with absolutely no justification whatsoever.” Table shows how the rate of stamp duty paid by homebuyers in England has changed over the last 25 years Year SDLT type AveHP – England (July) SDLT cost SDLT effective rate SDLT cost change 1997 Slab Structure £60,089 £601 1% N/A 1998 Slab Structure £65,475 £655 1% 9.0% 1999 Slab Structure £70,612 £706 1% 7.8% 2000 Slab Structure £82,563 £826 1% 16.9% 2001 Slab Structure £91,430 £914 1% 10.7% 2002 Slab Structure £110,001 £1,100 1% 20.3% 2003 Slab Structure £132,318 £1,323 1% 20.3% 2004 Slab Structure £156,730 £1,567 1% 18.4% 2005 Slab Structure £165,756 £1,658 1% 5.8% 2006 Slab Structure £176,164 £1,762 1% 6.3% 2007 Slab Structure £193,360 £1,934 1% 9.8% 2008 Slab Structure £185,844 £1,858 1% -3.9% 2009 Stamp Duty Holiday £167,673 £0 0% N/A 2010 Slab Structure £180,519 £1,805 1% -2.87% 2011 Slab Structure £177,164 £1,772 1% -1.9% 2012 Slab Structure £179,756 £1,798 1% 1.5% 2013 Slab Structure £184,274 £1,843 1% 2.5% 2014 Slab Structure £200,825 £2,008 1% 9.0% 2015 Slice Structure £213,518 £1,770 0.83% -11.8% 2016 Slice Structure £230,868 £2,117 0.92% 19.6% 2017 Slice Structure £241,406 £2,328 0.96% 10.0% 2018 Slice Structure £247,981 £2,460 0.99% 5.6% 2019 Slice Structure £248,468 £2,469 0.99% 0.4% 2020 Initial Stamp Duty Holiday £253,226 £0 0% N/A 2021 Reduced Stamp Duty Holiday Threshold £270,973 £1,048 0.39% N/A 2021 Slice Structure £270,973 £3,548 1.31% 43.7% Median Rate of Annual Stamp Duty Tax Growth – 1997 to 2021 8.40% House price data sourced from the Gov.uk UK House Price Index based on a July annual change as the latest month available Historic stamp duty rates sourced from stampdutyrates.co.uk and applied to the respective average house price in each year
Hundreds of thousands of businesses promised business rates reliefs through the £1.5 billion Government Business Rates Relief Fund have still not received a penny, despite promises made by the Government last Spring. In March, the Government took the unprecedented step of announcing it would legislate that Material Change of Circumstance (MCC) business rates appeals for businesses impacted by Covid-19 would not be valid for the appeals system – a move that was lambasted by the rating profession at the time and put paid to the hopes of hundred of thousands of businesses who had started the appeals process against their rates bills, on the grounds of the impact the pandemic had had on their businesses. * As a sweetener the Government announced a £1.5 billion New Business Rates Relief fund for businesses affected by COVID-19, outside the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, which would be distributed by Local Authorities. The relief fund would “get cash to affected businesses in the most proportionate and equitable way.” The Government also said, “We’ll work with and support local government to enable ratepayers to apply as soon as possible this year, once the legislation relating to MCC provisions has passed and local authorities have set up local relief schemes.” All well and good- except the legislation relating to MCC provisions has still not passed through Parliament and become law- six months on – and there are no signs it will be passed in the immediate future. Not only that but as John Webber, Head of Business Rates at Colliers points out, “As far as we are aware neither the government nor the billing authorities have engaged with the rating industry or set out any guidance for businesses to apply to receive this relief fund. We are still very much in the dark.” There are also rumours that the government will leave it to each billing authority to draw up its own guidance – a situation Webber describes as “carnage.” “Giving the local authorities the ability to decide who will be eligible for the reliefs is just not prescriptive enough and we know from past experiences that authorities all have different interpretations of the regulations. We’ll have 300 odd policies and whether businesses receive relief or not will be a total ”postcode lottery.” Webber points out that by the time the billing authorities get their plans together it will be between 18 months and two years since Covid set in and the first Lockdown began and the Government told office workers to work from home. That’s nearly two years for businesses who’ve been adversely impacted by Covid-19 to miss out on the support they need. “One wonders what state they’ll be in by the time the reliefs are actually paid out.” “As we said at the time when the government announced this retrospective move to deny MCC appeals, £1.5 billion will not even scratch the surface for businesses struggling to pay their rates bills from last two year- over 400,000 of whom had started the appeals process in what was “the largest MCC caused by a single event in rating history”. “But to not even get the scheme started yet is a disgrace and affront to businesses.” Please Note *between April 1sts 2020, just after the start of the first Lockdown, and end March 2021, 409,430 checks (the first stage of the appeals process) were registered by businesses, most of whom had been impacted by Covid-19. This dwarfs the 158,910 number of checks registered in the previous three years (April 2017 to March 2020) and shows the total disruption to hundreds and thousands of businesses caused by the pandemic and lockdowns.
Commercial property estate agency Ernest Wilson has sold Bradford timber merchants Baildon Timber to the Myers Group, a Huddersfield-based building supplies business, for £1 million. The Myers Group, which has been owned and run by the same family for four generations and employs 350 people across West Yorkshire, now plans a £500,000 investment in the business in order expand the stock range and carry out a full refurbishment of the site and buildings. “Baildon Timber is the perfect fit for us and there are clear synergies between our two family businesses, particularly as we both serve a customer base that is largely made up of small construction companies. The acquisition meets our aspirations for growth in the timber sector, as well as expanding our geographic footprint into the Baildon and east Bradford area of Yorkshire,” said James Berry, managing director of the Myers group. The Myers Group, whose range of building supplies services to housebuilders and renovators spans skip hire, ready mix concrete and aggregates, as well as kitchens and bathrooms, plans to create three new jobs immediately at Baildon Timber, with further hires scheduled for the coming months. “We pride ourselves on being a growing, progressive business and we’re really pleased to be able to invest in Baildon Timber to make it a bigger and better business. As well as a total refurbishment, we are creating a new, larger shop and trade counter and diversifying the product range to include other building supplies as well as timber,” said James. “Myers Group’s acquisition of Baildon Timber is a really good example of how the sale of a small business has triggered new investment and growth. Demand for small businesses like Baildon Timber is currently outstripping demand so the current market really is an ideal one for any business owner looking to exit the business,” added Michael Peel, Ernest Wilson sales manager. Acquired by property consultant Eddisons in 2019, Leeds-based Ernest Wilson was founded in 1956 and specialises in buying and selling hundreds of small businesses every year, from fish and chip shops to convenience stores and hotels. It has sold businesses worth more than £36 million of since the start of the pandemic.
Many homes within the UK need major structural work carried out on them to make them safe. In a lot of cases, it is actually far better to knock the house down and start again. Not only can the home then benefit from a more modern design structure, but it will be safe far longer into the future. This is clearly a huge potential revenue stream for construction companies. As well as rebuilding homes for people, in fact, many of these homeowners may be far interested in selling the house as it is to construction firms or any other potential property cash buyers and going elsewhere. This can save them a lot of stress. There is scope here for developers to make a lot of money if they get in on the act. Rebuilding Homes A construction company that takes on the job of rebuilding someone’s home will have many things to consider. First, the home has to be rebuilt according to the specification of the homeowner. This can be both a blessing and a curse, as it limits the construction companies ability to create the ideal home as they see fit. But, you will be able to create something that the homeowner loves. Having happy customers is essential in this day and age, as this will mean that you will be provided with excellent feedback and your customer experience rating will go up, causing you to be more competitive. The average income you would receive for a complete rebuild project for the average three-bedroomed house is about £198,000. This is clearly dependant on many factors, including the location of the site. However, if done correctly, rebuilding projects could be a vital part of any construction firm’s revenue stream. Redevelopment of the Site If you purchase the old home, you can clearly make more profit as you could build four flats on the site as opposed to one construction project. You will not be limited to the specification of the homeowner either. In addition, a project like this can help solve the housing crisis which is blighting the country. New houses are desperately needed, and demolition and reconstruction jobs are vital in the battle against this crisis. Brownfield Redevelopment There is huge scope for construction companies to develop on brownfield sites across the UK. In some places, development has begun in earnest on these sites, and in many ways, it is a far superior option to building on the green belt. First of all, you won’t have any green activists fighting against you every step of the way, as who could really argue with a company cleaning previously developed land and making use of it again? Obviously, these projects will be full of their own issues, ensuring that the land is free from toxins being one of them. But these developments again can prove profitable if done correctly and with the right planning. With the rising cost of housing, perhaps this option needs to be reconsidered by construction companies if they had previously ruled it out.
Research from the national estate agent, Keller Williams UK, explains why UK house price growth could remain buoyant until at least summer 2022. House prices have reached phenomenal highs since the start of the pandemic, a shortage of supply and ever-increasing demand means homes are selling for handsome sums and at breakneck speed. It has left many industry experts and commentators asking when prices will start to fall again, having already defied expectations by climbing even after the end of the initial stamp duty holiday. Keller Williams has analysed how the four seasons impact house prices and market demand over the past 36 months, a project that reveals prices are very unlikely to drop until at least June 2022. This is because, by splitting the calendar year into seasons, it is clear that the UK housing market follows a predictable cycle. The average house price in autumn – September, October, November – over the past three years has sat at £240,000. Always a busy time of year, this goes a long way to explain why prices and demand are still so high today. As the year moves into winter – December, January, February – the average house price climbs even further. Over the past 36 months, the average house price in winter has been £243,998. Moving into Spring – March, April, May – prices rise again to an average of £245,000. It is only with the arrival of summer that prices start to decline. Over the past three years, the average house price in the summer season has sat at £237,980, the lowest price for the whole year. So the data suggests that having already seen a summer of hot house price growth, we should now see property values continue on their upward trend until summer 2022, at the very least. CEO of Keller Williams UK, Ben Taylor, commented: “The stamp duty holiday has spurred an incredible run of upward house price growth and despite many predicting a market slump, we’re yet to see any let up. Season trends suggest this could be the case for the rest of this year and much of next as the market tends to perform at its best during the autumn, winter and spring seasons. “For buyers, this is difficult news to stomach, especially those who are hoping to move sooner rather than later. But it will no doubt be welcomed by sellers who should continue to secure a very good price when entering the market.” Table shows seasonal average house prices and transactions from the past 36 months (June 2018 – May 2021) Season Average transactions Average (median) price Summer 232,302 £237,980 Autumn 246,694 £240,000 Winter 217,232 £243,998 Spring 160,287 £245,000 Source HMLR – Price Paid
Research from the national estate agent, Keller Williams UK, reveals the most expensive areas to buy a home across 18 major cities in England, and how much more they will cost you compared to the city wide average. House prices have been hitting historic highs across England, soaring by more than 13% in the last year alone. The nation’s cities, however, have not experienced the same price boom that rural, regional areas of the country have and many cities now have average house prices well below the national average. But all housing markets, urban or rural, have their expensive areas and Keller Williams has identified precisely where they are, thus showing exactly how much money homeowners will need to spend in order to live at the very top of their local market. For buyers, London is the most expensive city in England. The average house price is currently £510,299, a sum that dwarfs the national average and yet pales in comparison to the capital’s most expensive neighbourhoods. And none are more expensive than Knightsbridge and Belgravia where the average house price is a shade below £3 million: almost £2.5 million, or 478%, more than the London average. In Birmingham, the average house price is £208,241. The city’s most expensive ward is Sutton Four Oaks, located to the north-east of the city centre, where the average house price is £520,000. This makes Sutton Four Oaks 150% more expensive than the Birmingham average, a gulf that ranks second only to London. There is a 148% difference between Bradford’s average house price and that of its most expensive ward. The city average is £149,798, but in Ilkley, which is around 10 miles from the city centre, the average price is £372,500; a difference of £222,702. Oxford has a high average house price, but £451,385 is still less than half of what it costs to live in its most expensive ward: North Oxford. The North of the city has an average house price of £543,615, 120% north of the city average. In Newcastle, the average price is £172,770. In its most expensive ward, Gosforth, the average is 120% higher at £380,000. There is 111% difference between Bournemouth and its most expensive ward, Canford Cliffs: 105% between Sheffield and Dore and Totley: 95% between Cambridge and Newnham: 86% between Bristol and Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze: 81% between Leeds and Harewood: 74% between Manchester and Chorlton: 72% between Nottingham and Wollaton West: 61% between Liverpool and Mossley Hill: 49% between Southampton and Shirley: 48% between Sunderland and Washington East: 45% between Portsmouth and Drayton and Farlington:33% between Leicester and Knighton: and 28% between Plymouth and Plymstock Dunstone. CEO of Keller Williams UK, Ben Taylor, commented: “The housing market has taken off and demand is pushing prices through the roof. Industry commentators keep predicting a sudden drop as demand lightens or at least evens out, but the truth is this is unlikely. The market will be as lively in a year’s time as it is now. But even if prices do drop slightly, these pinnacles of the UK property market will continue to command the highest house prices in their respective cities. The reason many of these wards are so expensive is that they offer rarified properties – large, spacious houses with good gardens; or tranquil, luxurious corners of otherwise frantic metropolitan areas. There will always be demand for these types of homes, as well as buyers with money to buy them. Especially when you factor in the foreign investor interest that our cities attract. If you’re lucky enough to be able to afford a step up into one of these wards, you can be sure that your financial stake will be well protected.” Table shows averate house price of English cities compared to that in their most expensive wards, ordered from largest price difference to smallest. City Average city house price Most expensive ward Average ward house price Difference £ – ward vs wider city average Difference % – ward vs wider city average London £510,299 Knightsbridge and Belgravia £2,950,000 £2,439,701 478.1% Birmingham £208,241 Sutton Four Oaks £520,000 £311,759 149.7% Bradford £149,798 Ilkley £372,500 £222,702 148.7% Oxford £451,385 North £995,000 £543,615 120.4% Newcastle £172,770 Gosforth £380,000 £207,230 119.9% Bournemouth £308,071 Canford Cliffs £650,000 £341,929 111.0% Sheffield £186,980 Dore and Totley £382,750 £195,770 104.7% Cambridge £473,534 Newnham £925,000 £451,466 95.3% Bristol £307,765 Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze £571,250 £263,485 85.6% Leeds £212,943 Harewood £384,950 £172,007 80.8% Manchester £206,574 Chorlton £359,000 £152,426 73.8% Nottingham £166,153 Wollaton West £286,000 £119,847 72.1% Liverpool £163,580 Mossley Hill £262,750 £99,170 60.6% Southampton £218,192 Shirley £325,000 £106,808 49.0% Sunderland £133,359 Washington East £196,998 £63,638 47.7% Portsmouth £230,419 Drayton and Farlington £335,000 £104,581 45.4% Leicester £206,297 Knighton £275,000 £68,703 33.3% Plymouth £194,085 Plymstock Dunstone £249,000 £54,915 28.3% Sources UK House Price Index (HPI) ONS – Median house price by ward
As the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund opens to applications, Kensa Contracting is urging local authorities and housing associations in England to act now and bid for a portion of the £160 million available in 2021/22 to install highly efficient low carbon ground source heat pumps to tackle climate change and protect their tenants from fuel poverty. There is an 8-week application window for the first wave of the Social Housing Fund funding bids, beginning on 23rd August and ending on 15th October. To help capitalise on this opportunity, Kensa Contracting will be delivering free CPD sessions showcasing the benefits of ground source heat pumps in social housing with large-scale retrofit case studies and demonstrating how the technology is eligible under the scheme. Kensa can also support local authorities in making a bid by delivering desktop feasibility studies of building stock to help identify ‘retrofit-ready’ projects, and providing estimates for the investment budgets and potential grant amounts needed for installing ground source heating systems. The UK government has committed to reducing emissions to net-zero by 2050, and over 10 years, the Social Housing Fund will potentially provide up to £3.8 billion in subsequent funding waves to encourage local authorities in England to retrofit measures such as low-carbon heating and insulation to increase energy efficiency and decarbonise their housing stock. The primary objective of the Social Housing Fund scheme is to upgrade a significant amount of England’s 4.1m social homes to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2030. Currently, nearly 40% of properties fall below this, with fuel poverty posing a serious risk for residents when high fuel bills mean tough choices between heating or eating. Under the scheme’s guidelines, low carbon heating, including ground source heat pumps, can be installed where a ‘fabric first approach is taken’. Electrically-powered ground source heat pumps are sustainable, non-combustion devices generating no point of use emissions or pollution, and have been highlighted by government as a key part of the UK’s strategy to decarbonise heat, of which 37% of total UK carbon emissions are attributed to. Using freely available heat energy from the ground, a ground source heat pump can deliver 3 to 4 kilowatts (kW) of heat for every 1kW of electricity it consumes, making it highly efficient. While modern condensing boilers can be up to 90% efficient, a ground source heat pump can achieve efficiencies of 400%, without the carbon emissions or air pollution created by burning fossil fuels. The government’s 10-point-plan to put the UK back on track to meet its net-zero carbon target by 2050, states the aim to have 600,000 heat pump installations every year by 2028, and the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) has suggested this figure should even be increased to 900,000. This will require a massive scaling up of ground source heat pump installations, and Kensa believes that a Shared Ground Loop Array infrastructure is the key to achieving this.