Construction work has begun on a new accommodation complex for NHS staff and medical students working at Yeovil Hospital. The key milestone in the project was marked by a turf cutting ceremony held on 15 March 2019 on the site of the town’s former Nautilus Works, just off the A30
London’s super prime residential real estate more than held its own against the overall Brexit-plagued market last year, according to a report Thursday from Savills. The exclusive portion of the market where properties cost more than £15 million (US$19.5 million) saw transactions soar 43.1% in 2018 compared to 2017, data
Construction work has begun on a new accommodation complex for NHS staff and medical students working at Yeovil Hospital. The key milestone in the project was marked by a turf cutting ceremony held on 15 March 2019 on the site of the town’s former Nautilus Works, just off the A30 at Reckleford, where the new accommodation complex will be built. There to mark the occasion were Jonathan Higman (Chief Executive, Yeovil Hospital), Paul von der Heyde (Trust Chairman, Yeovil Hospital), Leighton Chumbley, Chief Executive of development partner Prime and Chris Watkins, Contracts Manager of construction firm Speller Metcalfe. The key worker accommodation scheme is the latest project to be funded by Canada Life and delivered through Yeovil Hospital’s strategic estates partnership with Prime. To date, the joint venture has delivered the Hospital’s new multi-storey car park and link road, an Emergency Assessment Unit, outpatient waiting area and a special care baby unit. Jonathan Higman, Chief Executive, Yeovil Hospital said: “This was an exciting moment for the hospital. The accommodation being built will provide frontline staff with modern, high-quality accommodation, just yards from the hospital site. “It’s an investment into our future and one which will help us recruit and retain employees whilst adding to the vibrancy of the wider community.” Leighton Chumbley, Chief Executive at Prime said: “The key worker accommodation complex is a much-needed scheme, which will not only improve the lives of the hardworking and dedicated NHS staff and students who work at the hospital, but it will also breathe new life into a town centre site which has been derelict for a number of years. The turf cutting ceremony celebrates our progress onto the next phase in the scheme, turning plans into real transformation for the town and the hospital workers who support it.” Chris Watkins, Contracts Manager at Speller Metcalfe said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to partner with Prime and Yeovil Hospital to deliver this fantastic new accommodation complex and are looking forward to the construction phase starting. We will be using our experience of building first-class residential accommodation to deliver the modern, comfortable and high-quality facilities the NHS workers and medical students deserve for the tremendous job they do for their community.” Designed by One Creative Environments Ltd (One), the accommodation complex will provide 176 bedrooms in total, in a mixture of one, two, four- and eight-bedroom apartments. Located just 500m from the Hospital, the scheme also includes shared living spaces and landscaped gardens to enable staff and students to socialise and relax away from work. Planning permission for the key worker accommodation project was awarded by South Somerset District Council planners in November last year, and £20m of funding was secured for the build by Prime in December 2018. With building contractors now on site, the project is expected to be completed by late summer 2020. Enquiries about the project can be sent to future@ydh.nhs.uk.
London’s super prime residential real estate more than held its own against the overall Brexit-plagued market last year, according to a report Thursday from Savills. The exclusive portion of the market where properties cost more than £15 million (US$19.5 million) saw transactions soar 43.1% in 2018 compared to 2017, data from the U.K. real estate agency show. The high-end transactions translated to a total sales volume of almost £2 billion, up 41.2% from 2017 and the highest figure since 2014, when the government introduced its new stamp duty rates resulting in much higher transaction costs at the top end of the market. Driving the increases are the relative bargains that can now be found in the prime London market. Some of the most expensive boroughs in London, dogged by political uncertainty, are seeing prices plummet, according to a report Monday from estate agency Your Move. Kensington and Chelsea, the most expensive borough in London where the average price in December was £1.7 million, saw prices drop more than a fifth in 12 months, down 21.2% from £2.25 million in December 2017. The capital has carried the brunt of the U.K.’s Brexit wariness, unsurprisingly, given the influence of immigration and overseas buyers on the market. “The price falls we’ve seen in the central London market, when combined with the depreciation of sterling, means the trophy properties of central London look relatively good value in an international context,” Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said in the report. “Despite the backdrop of political uncertainty and a less welcoming tax environment, these figures are clear evidence that London remains an attractive place for a growing pool of international high net worth individuals to live and conduct business,” he added. Values in prime central London peaked in June 2014 and have since fallen by 19.4%, with a 4.1% fall in 2018, Savills said.
