Building Briefs - December 18th

• Tiree pierhead construction work complete

The completion of this project allows the old pierhead to return to operational use for third party vessels and has also delivered robust repairs to a number of areas on the main pier.  

Work at the site restarted in June 2020 following disruption and subsequent delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A small team of construction workers from contractor George Leslie Ltd resumed work on the old pierhead following the six-step restart plan developed by the Scottish Government and the construction industry.

George Leslie Ltd will return in the new year to complete some minor snagging work, as well as a planned return in the spring for other minor works that could not be completed at this time.

• Barratt Developments wins best large housebuilder for second year in a row

Barratt Developments has been named as Housebuilder magazine’s best large housebuilder for the second year in a row. This is now the third time that Barratt has won this award in five years, underlying its focus on putting customers at the heart of everything it does.

The Housebuilder awards recognise the best in housebuilding and with 2020 being such an unprecedented year due to COVID-19, to be named housebuilder of the year is a real achievement. Throughout this year Barratt has continued to look after its customers, building high-quality homes that the country needs, whilst also supporting local communities, charities and the NHS as much as possible.

The best large housebuilder award came on top of further success at the awards. Barratt also took home the award for best refurbishment project for The White Building. This iconic factory at the Chapel Gate development in Basingstoke had its Art Deco period features carefully preserved to restore the former medical building to its former glory, creating 96 beautiful apartments.

Barratt was also highly commended in the sustainable housebuilder of the year category. This year Barratt has underlined its commitment to become the country’s leading national sustainable housebuilder by setting ambitious new carbon reduction targets and taking an industry-leading role in combatting climate change.

• Glasgow’s railway set for Christmas investment

Passengers in Scotland’s biggest city are set to benefit from improved journeys in 2021 as Network Rail delivers projects to upgrade and renew infrastructure around Glasgow this festive period.

Engineers will be working on key rail lines in and around the city, relaying tracks, renewing junctions and upgrading signalling systems as part of a £16m investment in Scotland’s Railway over Christmas.

From late on Christmas Eve until the early hours of Saturday, January 2, work will be taking place at Cadder to the north of the city to replace over 1km of track and renew or refurbish 12 sets of points (rails that move to allow trains to switch from one track to another).

The team at Cadder will also be renewing signalling and overhead power equipment and upgrading points heaters, which will help stop rails from freezing during the coming winter months.

Also to the north of the city, at Greenhill Junction, work will take place over Christmas to upgrade signalling systems to make the railway more resilient and reduce delays for passengers.

These projects will have an impact on some services in and out of Glasgow Queen Street, but alternative routes between Glasgow and Edinburgh will be available.

To the south of Glasgow city centre, engineers will be working from New Year’s Day until the early hours of January 4 to renew junctions and life-expired tracks.

This will include work to renew equipment at Muirhouse junction, replace and refurbish track and other infrastructure on the approaches to Glasgow Central – near Bridge Street on the south side of the river – and within the station itself.

These works will affect some services into Glasgow Central over the New Year period.

Elsewhere in Scotland over Christmas, engineers will be relaying track and refurbishing structures in Edinburgh, Stirling and Inverness.

• Cunninghame completes 28 affordable homes in Stevenston

Cunninghame Housing Association marked the completion of its new build housing development at Ardoch Court in Stevenston last month by asking Councillor Jimmy Miller to carry out the official closing ceremony which included the planting of a tree within the development.

Councillor Miller had carried out the official opening ceremony to mark the commencement of the project in March 2019.

The site has delivered a total of 28 new houses and flatted accommodation for affordable rent. It comprises of a mixture of two and three-bedroom, general needs houses and four amenity cottage flats with the ground floor properties designed specifically for those with wheelchair needs.

This £3.8 million development was delivered in partnership with North Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Government with £2.2m of Scottish Government Grant being made available to support the delivery of the project.

The contractor was local firm McLaughlin Construction.

• Construction begins to deliver new affordable homes near Coupar Angus

Caledonia Housing Association has appointed Bancon Construction to commence the third and final phase of its development in the village of Woodside, near Coupar Angus in Perthshire.

Twelve homes for social rent are under construction and due to be completed in summer 2021. A total of 24 homes are already occupied at this attractive, rural development.

The 12 properties will provide accommodation from 2-5 bedrooms, making them suitable for a wide range of individuals and families. Woodside adjoins a neighbouring village, Burrelton, and is two miles south west of Coupar Angus.

• Regulator highlights ‘strong’ lender and investor appetite for social housing sector

Investor confidence in Scotland’s social housing sector remains strong with private investment continuing to help fund RSLs towards their contribution to the Scottish Government’s target of an extra 35,000 social rented houses by 2021, according to the Scottish Housing Regulator.

The Regulator’s new report on annual loan portfolio returns from RSLs shows that RSLs have a total of £6.2 billion in debt facilities, with £5.2bn of this debt drawn and £1.0bn remaining undrawn.

RSLs raised £802 million of new loans during 2019/20 from banks and capital markets. The vast majority was for investment in existing housing and to fund new housing developments. RSLs are also forecasting increased borrowing to fund future development programmes. The report also shows the sector continues to attract new investors.