Building Briefs – August 15th

Eleven more flats approved for Dundee waterfront site

Plans have been approved to build an additional 11 homes at a site on Dundee’s waterfront.

A total of 99 apartments will now be built in one of the buildings at site six.

Planning permission has been granted for a mixed use development on the site comprising a hotel, office space, residential and ground floor spaces which will be suitable for leisure, food & drink and retail uses.

The number of one-bedroom flats across the site will now increase from 16 to 18, the number of two-bedroom flats will increase by 25, from 42 to 67, and the number of three-bedroom flats will reduce from 30 to 14.

Ediston Real Estate, who submitted the application, said they had identified a shift in the type of properties buyers were likely to be attracted to following “further, extensive market research”.

Average house prices up 4.8% on previous year

The average price of a property in Scotland has increased by 4.8% in 12 months to reach £150,472 in June 2018, according to the Registers of Scotland.

The latest publication of the monthly UK House Price Index (UK HPI) revealed that the figure was an increase of 0.8% when compared to the previous month.

This compares to a UK average of £228,384, which was an increase of 3.0% on June in the previous year and an increase of 0.4% when compared to the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in April 2018 was 7,371 – a decrease of 9.4% on April 2017. This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 19.3% in England and 13.9% in Wales in April 2018, and 13.0% in Northern Ireland in Quarter 2 - 2018.

Average price increases were recorded in the majority (27) of local authorities in June 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in West Lothian, Midlothian and City of Edinburgh, where average prices increased by 11.3% to £159,408, 9.2% to £180,807 and 9.2% to £255,361 respectively. The largest decreases were recorded in Aberdeenshire and City of Aberdeen, where average prices fell by 3.7% to £189,200 and 2.8% to £159,507 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in just four local authorities in April 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in East Lothian and Perth & Kinross, where volumes increased by 20.1% to 185 sales and 11.9% to 244 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in Argyll and Bute, Stirling and Inverclyde, where volumes fell by 33.0% to 124 sales, 23.9% to 102 sales and 23.3% to 89 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in June 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Semi-detached properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 6.0% to £157,588, while terraced properties increased by 5.9% to £125,651, flatted properties increased by 4.5% to £109,571, and detached properties increased by 3.3% to £253,725.

The average price in June 2018 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £122,657 – an increase of 5.0% compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £178,631 – an increase of 4.4% on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £138,312 – an increase of 4.4% on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £155,883 – an increase of 4.9% on the previous year.

Three sites proposed for Cairngorms Local Development Plan

Three sites in Aviemore are to be proposed as part of Cairngorms National Park’s ongoing Local Development Plan (LDP).

An extension to tourism designations in Carr-Bridge and Grantown-on-Spey will also be considered under the new LDP.

Following the Main Issues Report (MIR) consultation that took place from November 2017 to February 2018, comments received suggested a number of additions that could be included in the next Plan. The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) must consult with members of the public and relevant organisations because they are newly proposed sites.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) is required to publish a LDP for the Park which must be reviewed every five years.

Flooding project delayed in Greenock

Scottish Water’s £2.8m flooding management project in Greenock has been delayed due to tunnelling problems.

The team intended to use a guided tunnelling machine to tunnel under the roadway in and round the Oakmall Shopping Centre and across the roundabout where the existing sewer is located.

Due to the hard, rocky ground conditions they have been forced to dig the 16m long tunnel by hand, a far lengthier process.

The four-way traffic light system on the A78 at High Street roundabout, which is currently in operation to enable engineers to connect new infrastructure to an existing sewer, will now be in place until 12 October.

Information event to be held on Robslee sewer project

An information event is being held on Scottish Water’s £4 million sewer upgrades in Robslee, Giffnock.

The event will take place at Eastwood House, Eastwood Park, Giffnock, on Tuesday 21 August, from 4pm - 7pm.

Residents can find out more about plans for the work which is being carried out by Scottish Water’s alliance partner amey Black and Veatch (aBV).

aBV will begin work on the project on 17 August.

The project involves up-sizing the sewers in the community to help prevent sewer flooding in the area and improve the water quality of the Bagabout Burn and the Otter Burn.

New pipework will also be installed within the Pavilion Playing Fields and on private land off Robslee Drive.

The scheme is expected to take around 14 months to complete.