Costain, the engineering solutions provider, announces that it has been awarded the £605 million contract for the East works package of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in London in Joint Venture (‘JV’) with VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche Ltd. The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a major new sewer, urgently needed to protect the tidal River Thames from pollution and to modernise London’s Victorian sewerage network for the 21st century, underpinning and enhancing economic prosperity. It is a large complex programme which addresses an urgent need to help ensure London is provided with a safe and environmentally sustainable water infrastructure. The joint venture, of which Costain has a 40% share, will commence work immediately and is expected to complete its programme of works in 2023. Andrew Wyllie CBE, Chief Executive of Costain, commented: “We are pleased to have been selected as a delivery partner for the Thames Tideway Tunnel. This award reflects Costain’s ability to provide the breadth of skills and capabilities necessary for these major schemes, and our ability to operate safely as part of a collaborative integrated team.”  

A new report from the International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK) has found that residential housing with flexible care provision (extra care) can have a major impact in promoting residents’ quality of life and reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation. The report, funded by Audley Retirement and Bupa, surveyed residents of retirement villages on quality of life and used a statistical technique to compare the results with a group living in the community. This striking research revealed that village living can promote greaterindependence and provide greater choice in planning for later life than would otherwise be available. The research shows that the communal environment has the potential to reduce social isolation, particularly for residents who move from more rural or remote homes. The average person in a retirement village experiences half the amount of loneliness (12.17%) than those in the community (22.83%). Nearly two thirds of respondents living in retirement villages (64.2%) could be classified as not at all lonely, and over four out of five (81.7%) said they hardly ever or never felt isolated. Over half (54.7%) often felt in tune with those around them, and nearly four in five (79.1%) hardly ever or never felt left out. People living in this type of accommodation also reported a strong sense of control over their daily lives, nearly 10% higher than those living in the community. Control is a crucial component of quality of life measurement[i]. They also felt secure in their homes, with 97% of respondents agreeing that they felt safe where they lived. Both of these findings were assessed using recognised quality of life measures[ii]. The UK is faced with an ageing population which, the ILC-UK warns, is going to become increasingly difficult to support. It is projected that in 20 years’ time, the number of people aged 85 and over will be almost two and a half times larger than in 2010[iii]. As well as having an emotional impact, loneliness can also present physical health implications; research has shown that loneliness can accelerate cognitive decline in older adults[iv], and even present people with a 64% greater risk of dementia[v]. There are currently 800,000 people in England who are chronically lonely[vi] which, if left to increase in line with the population, could create a large burden on the NHS. The research calls on the government to: Identify ways of working with the private sector to stimulate the building of new good quality retirement housing. Encourage people in early older age to consider making such a move. In light of the new pensions freedoms, consider offering information and advice on such housing opportunities to people who make enquiries into how to manage their retirement finances. Baroness Sally Greengross, Chief Executive of ILC-UK commented: “This research helps confirm that good housing is good for us. Communal living commonly found in extra care and retirement villages seems to positive impact on loneliness, with very few respondents to our research saying they felt a high degree of loneliness or isolation. New and innovative models for providing social care are crucial to address rising costs for care in an aging society. But we simply aren’t building enough aspirational housing for old age. Government must ensure that planning supports the development and promotion of alternative models of housing with care.” Nick Sanderson, CEO of Audley Retirement Villages commented: “We have long known that retirement villages offering extra care have a positive impact on those living in them. No one wants to be in a care home, and very few should need to go down that route. The ILC report corroborates our belief that the quality of life in extra care accommodation far exceeds what is possible in a care home. “Extra care housing offers people the opportunity to live in a community of like-minded individuals, whilst remaining in their own home and retaining their independence. We were particularly pleased to see the ILC report reveal that residents feel a greater sense of control, and importantly a sense of community. Living in the right accommodation, with flexible care give our owners the opportunity to live their lives as they choose, on their own terms. “We are faced with a growing older population, and this generation are more ambitious and active than ever. It’s crucial that there is a better supply of good quality housing that meets their changing needs. Extra care is a seemingly simple concept, but government, business and society urgently needs to accelerate the provision of alternatives to current solutions; alternatives like extra care housing that can help give older people what they need and want, as well as help the NHS avoid a care crisis.” Paddy Brice, managing director, of Richmond Care Villages, which is part of Bupa, said: “The report reflects our knowledge that retirement villages are a great way for people to maintain their independence and enjoy an active social life, with the confidence that support is on hand if needed. “Our villagers frequently tell us they wish they’d made the move earlier. We are currently building two new villages as part of Bupa’s investment in new products and services for older people. Care villages are clearly meeting a big demand for this style of living as the apartments are being snapped up before we have even finished building them.”

Industrial and logistics developer DB Symmetry will bring forward a 721,000 sq ft distribution park in the Midlands after acquiring a 48-acre site from Rossington Blyth.

Regeneration firm St Modwen has submitted an outline planning application for the £100m mixed-use regeneration of the railway works site at Wolverton, Milton Keynes.

Dolphin Living has confirmed plans to introduce a radical new rent policy at Hackney’s New Era Estate.

Shopping centre owner and developer Hammerson has submitted proposals for a multi-million pound expansion ofthe Union Square shopping centre in Aberdeen.

Legal & General Property has acquired 43 Temple Row, Birmingham, from the Crown Estate for £14.5m.

Moody’s Investors Service says that the depreciation in the renminbi that has followed the shift in the mechanism for determining the daily fixing rate of the Chinese currency against the dollar is credit negative for Chinese property developers, given their significant exposure to foreign-currency debt, the majority of which is denominated in USD. “Nevertheless, all else being equal, we believe that the majority of our rated developers could withstand up to a 10% depreciation of the RMB relative to foreign currencies without it impacting their credit ratings,” says Simon Wong, a Moody’s Associate Managing Director. Wong was speaking on the release of a new Moody’s report on China’s property sector, entitled, Rated Developers Have Headroom to Withstand Modest RMB Depreciation. The report follows the People’s Bank of China announcement on 11 August that it would start basing the fixing rate of the renminbi against the dollar on the previous day’s market prices. “Furthermore, it is possible that other factors could counterbalance the impact of an RMB depreciation, including the potential for further declines in domestic interest rates and the ongoing opening up of the domestic bond market as a funding avenue,” says Wong. At end-2014, an average 35.5% of the debt structures of the 43 rated developers analysed in the new Moody’s report comprised foreign currency-denominated debt — including offshore bonds and bank loans — and this foreign-currency risk is largely unhedged. “Because of the mismatch between their foreign-currency debt obligations and RMB-denominated revenue and operating cash flow, their interest expenses and the principal amounts of foreign-currency debt will increase in tandem with a depreciating renminbi,” adds Wong. Moreover, the 14 rated developers with the largest percentages of foreign-currency debt relative to total reported debt would see their leverage, as measured by revenue-to-debt or debt-to-capitalization, weaken under a 10% depreciation scenario against the US dollar. This 10% depreciation sensitivity analysis is for testing the rated developers’ resilience to a higher-than-expected renminbi depreciation, which is not our core scenario or expectation. Moody’s believes that high investment grade developers — such as China Overseas Land & Investment Limited (COLI, Baa1 stable) and China Resources Land Limited (CR land, Baa1 stable), despite being amongst those with the highest exposure to foreign-currency debt — are less impacted due to their strong financial buffers and state-owned enterprise status or affiliation. In addition, Moody’s notes that the foreign-currency bonds of property developers coming due through 2016 are relatively small in amount, thereby limiting the near-term impact on liquidity due to currency depreciation. But, with the bonds maturing in the next 12 months, refinancing risk remains very high for Glorious Property Holdings Limited (Caa3 negative) and Renhe Commercial Holdings Company Limited (Caa1 negative). At the same time, such risk has already been factored into their low ratings. Furthermore, in Moody’s view, the foreign-currency exposures of rated Chinese developer have likely peaked and will decline over the next one to two years as developers increase usage of the onshore bond market. In this context, Moody’s notes that the opening up of the domestic bond market to property developers provides rated companies with an alternative source of long-term funding that is not exposed to foreign-exchange risk. Some RMB78.9 billion (US$12.3 billion) of domestic bonds have been issued so far in 2015. In contrast, offshore bond issuance over the same period declined by 54% to US$8.4 billion.

Jim will lead the government-owned company which is responsible for delivering £11 billion of improvements to England’s motorways and major A roads by 2020. Jim is an experienced engineer who will bring significant leadership experience to this key role. Jim has a broad range of experience working on safety critical transport projects, in the utilities industries and in world renowned businesses including British Airways and Heathrow Airport Holdings. Jim will take over the chief executive post from Graham Dalton who announced his departure in January after 7 years leading Highways England predecessor the Highways Agency. Highways England Chairman Colin Matthews said: I am delighted to announce Jim’s appointment to lead Highways England in a new, challenging era. The government has committed to the biggest investment in roads in a generation: there are more than 100 roads schemes in its Road Investment Strategy which Highways England will be responsible for delivering to provide safer, more reliable and much improved journeys on our busiest roads. I would like to thank Graham Dalton for his leadership over the past 7 years. He has been responsible for significant improvement schemes, as well as meeting the needs of the nation during severe weather and events of international interest such as the 2012 Olympics, all culminating in the successful transition from the Highways Agency to Highways England. Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said: Jim’s experience of leading world-class infrastructure companies means I can be confident he will ensure that the benefits of the record investment this government is making in our roads delivers for drivers and businesses across the whole of the UK on time and on budget. Jim will join on Monday 22 June 2015, before formally taking over from Graham Dalton on Wednesday 1 July 2015. As Managing Director of the Airports Division at Heathrow Airport Holdings (BAA) between October 2012 and December 2014, Jim was responsible for all the group’s airports outside Heathrow. He was previously Managing Director at Edinburgh Airport, and Technical Standards and Assurance Director at Heathrow Airport Holdings (BAA); he spent 4 years at Central Networks (Eon UK) as Capital Delivery and Field Force Director, and he worked for British Airways for 14 years between 1988 and 2002, serving some of that time as Chief Engineer for Concorde and as Technical Director for the airline.