Building Briefs – January 17th

Kingdom Housing Association appoints new director of housing and asset management

Kingdom Housing Association has appointed Alan Simpson as director of housing and asset management.

The Kingdom Group, based in Fife and operating in East Central Scotland, has over 4000 homes under management. The Group consists of Kingdom Housing Association, Kingdom Initiatives and the recently formed Kingdom Support and Care CIC.

The creation of Kingdom Support and Care resulted in a restructuring within the Group, with Norah Smith, currently Kingdom’s director of housing and care, taking up a new director’s post within the new Support and Care subsidiary.

A new directorate for housing and asset management was created as part of the reorganisation and Alan Simpson has been appointed as director. Both Norah and Alan will start their new posts on April 1, 2017.

Alan has worked with Kingdom for over 23 years, starting as development officer in 1993; he has undertaken various positions in Property Services, before being appointment as Kingdom’s head of asset management in 2014. He is also a qualified Quantity Surveyor and a member of the RICS.

Draft redevelopment brief for prominent Dundee site

People living near Dundee landmark Maryfield House could be consulted on the future use of the site.

The former nurses’ residence has been declared surplus to requirements by NHS Tayside and now city planners are asking councillors to back a consultation on a blueprint for the location that will encourage development of a mixture of house types to the west of Mains Loan and east of Arklay Terrace.

A report to Dundee City Council’s city development committee is recommending consultation on a draft planning brief calling for new housing on the one hectare site.

According to the draft brief, to be considered by councillors on January 23, the site contains a number of existing properties, none of which are of particular architectural merit and therefore provide an opportunity for demolition and redevelopment.

It goes on to say that housing is the preferred option for the site with a mix of types and sizes including detached and semi-detached reflecting the density of surrounding dwellings.

Developers looking to build at the former hospital site, which is adjacent to Dundee International Sports Centre (DISC), will be encouraged to incorporate features of the existing built environment such as the stone wall to the west of the site and use the south facing slope to take advantage of natural light.

West Lothian Council completes first phase of 1,000-home development

The first properties at Scotland’s largest council housing development have been completed.

West Lothian Council is building 1,000 new council homes across the county as part of a £111 million investment.

The site at Kirkhill in Broxburn will have 230 new council homes, making it the largest council house new development site to have been built in Scotland since 2009. The first phase was completed by Lovell Partnerships and tenants are now moving in.

The new houses will include a mixture of 92 cottage flats, 105 houses and 33 accessible bungalows and range from 1 bed flats to 5 bed houses.

Vital Borders bridge repairs require daytime closure

The final stages of essential repairs to a historic Yarrow Valley bridge will require a five day closure.

Broadmeadows Bridge on the A708 road will be shut on Monday 30 January until Friday 3 February, from 9am to 4pm each day, to allow the road to be re-surfaced.

The bridge is expected to fully reopen next month.

Broadmeadows Bridge was damaged by a vehicle in September 2015, leading to temporary lights being used to allow traffic to continue to use it.

Following a full assessment, Scottish Borders Council (SBC) began rebuilding a section of the masonry on the upstream side of the structure in November 2016, allowing the bridge to remain open with the continued use of traffic lights.

The remaining areas of walls have been anchored using steel ties, which will be cored and cemented into the bridge structure.

Before beginning the £240,000 project, SBC discussed the works with utility companies whose apparatus runs through the bridge.

Hebridean Housing Partnership awards room in roof insulation contract

Eco Insulate Ltd has won a contract to carry out room in roof insulation work to homes on the Isle of Lewis.

The scheme involves treating at least 40 properties for the Hebridean Housing Partnership (HHP).

The tender was issued as part of HHP’s commitment to the Scottish Government’s HEEPS-CAP programme and covered different options to insulate the properties.

Eco Insulate Ltd’s solution was found to be the most practical and cost effective option as work to each property was likely to be completed in under one day and there was no need to decant tenants.

Work is scheduled to begin in early February, with completion by the middle of March.

Kingdom Housing Association plans affordable housing development at Cuparmuir

Kingdom Housing Association is to move forward with proposals to develop the derelict former walled garden at Trynmuir, Cuparmuir, with 25 homes for affordable rent.

Having been granted planning permission in principle for the development by Fife Council back in 2010, followed by another approval in principle in 2014, an application is now about to be lodged by the Association covering the detailed design of the houses.

Bill Banks, chief executive at Kingdom, said: “It is unfortunate that the Association has been unable, for ownership and other reasons, to move more quickly to provide much needed affordable homes on the site. We now have that opportunity, in partnership with Campion Homes, to deliver what we believe will be a popular development for the many local families who are on our waiting list for attractive, energy-efficient homes.

“A variety of house types will be provided to meet the needs of a range of households, and we hope to be in a position to start work on site later this year.”

The Association has been alerting local residents to the upcoming planning application, and will be presenting the proposals to Cupar Community Council at its meeting later this month.

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering to win Dundee flood protection tender

New multi million pound coastal flood protection measures for the waterfront area in Dundee could come a step closer next week if councillors approve a tender for the work.

Dundee City Council’s city development committee will be asked to award the £6.4 million of works between Dundee Airport and Camperdown Dock to Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd.

If the tender is approved, work could start on site before the end of the month with a target of completing it next spring.

The scheme will include set-back walls and flood defences to provide a one in 200 year (plus climate change) standard of protection.

The city development committee meets on January 23.

Innovative housing projects invited to enter World Habitat Awards

Housing projects which demonstrate practical, innovative and sustainable solutions to current housing needs are invited to submit their entries to the World Habitat Awards.

The annual awards are a great way of identifying and celebrating good practice in housing worldwide and entries are now open for the 2017/18 competition.

Entries can be submitted via the World Habitat Awards website and must be received by March 1.

Average Scottish house price increases 3.3 per cent annually

The average price of a property in Scotland in November 2016 was £143,033 – an increase of 3.3 per cent on the previous year and an increase of 1.0 per cent when compared to the previous month.

This compares to a UK average of £217,928, which was an increase of 6.7 per cent over the year and an increase of 1.1 per cent when compared to the previous month.

The latest UK House Price Index, published by Registers of Scotland, shows that the volume of residential sales in Scotland in September 2016 was 9,352 – an increase of 8.5 per cent on the previous year and up 10.4 per cent on last month.

This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 22.0 per cent in England, 10.4 per cent in Wales and 10.7 per cent in Northern Ireland.

The top five local authorities in terms of sales volumes were City of Edinburgh (1,126 sales), Glasgow City (1,104 sales), Fife (634 sales), South Lanarkshire (564 sales) and North Lanarkshire (504 sales).

The biggest price increase over the last year was in East Renfrewshire where the average price increased by 16.6 per cent to £225,312. The biggest decrease was again in the City of Aberdeen, where prices fell by 7.8 per cent to £171,530.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price when compared with the previous year, with semi-detached properties showing the biggest increase of 4.2 per cent to £149,735.

The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £171,018 – an increase of 3.3 per cent on the previous year. The average price for property purchased by a first time buyer was £115,946 – an increase of 3.2 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £131,987 – an increase of 3.3 per cent on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £148,137 – also an increase of 3.3 per cent on the previous year.