Building Briefs – May 10th

Final masterplan proposals for New Brunstane to be shared with community at second event

The EDI Group Limited, the Edinburgh based property development and investment group, will share its proposed masterplan for New Brunstane with the community at a second event on 18 May at the King’s Manor Hotel.

This will complete the pre-application consultation activity relating to the land at Brunstane in Edinburgh and will showcase the final proposals intended to be submitted for a planning permission in principle.

Local residents, politicians and community groups are invited to attend the event on Wednesday 18 May from 3pm to 8pm at the King’s Manor Hotel, Milton Road East and see how the comments and feedback received at pre-application consultations have informed the New Brunstane masterplan development.

Glasgow church for sale in flats plan

A former church in Glasgow’s West End is for sale with plans to convert it into upmarket flats.

Lilybank Church in Great George Street, which was originally known as Belmont Church, was designed by Glasgow architect James Miller who was also responsible for the travel centre in St Enoch Square, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the facade of the Turnberry Hotel in Ayrshire and Peebles Hydro.

The Hillhead church, which he built in 1894, has soaring stained glass windows and until recently was used as the assembly hall for Hutcheson’s Grammar School.

It was sold in 2007 but plans to develop it into a commercial operation were scrapped because of the downturn in the economy.

The Grade B listed building is now on the market with the aim of converting it into 21 flats plus three new build flats.

In recent years, the condition of the church has deteriorated and the selling agents say it is in need of grading and refurbishment but still retains notable design features including stained glass windows and ornate wood carvings and stonework.

Dundee’s first National Housing Trust development up for top housing award

A Broughty Ferry development containing the first homes to be delivered in the Dundee area under the Scottish Government’s National Housing Trust (NHT) initiative has made it through to the final stages of the prestigious Scottish Home Awards.

The Sandy Loan development has been selected as a finalist in the Affordable Housing Development category.

The development, which consists of 15 two bedroom apartments, was delivered in partnership by Dundee City Council, Scottish Futures Trust and Ferrier Holdings Ltd and the properties are managed by Northern Housing Company, part of the Hillcrest Group of Companies.

Under the NHT initiative, which is designed to address the acute shortage of affordable homes in Scotland, Sandy Loan offers local people a realistic avenue into home ownership whereby they rent a property at affordable mid-market rents for a period before being able to purchase their home in 5 to 10 years’ time.

The Scottish Home Awards is an annual event which highlights excellence in building, design, marketing and customer care across the house building industry in Scotland.

In its category, Sandy Loan is up against 5 developments all located in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony which is to take place on 16 June at The Edinburgh Corn Exchange.

New home confirmed for West Dunbartonshire dance school

Plans have been approved by West Dunbartonshire Council to allow a dance school to move to a new home.

Dancebase Academy, which offers dance classes for all ages as well as a number of fitness classes for adults, will now have a permanent home at the Vale of Leven Industrial Estate. Since its establishment four years ago, the business has operated out of a number of premises in Dumbarton and Alexandria, before applying for a vacant unit in the industrial estate.

Planning officials has cited concerns regarding the suitability of the unit, such as safety issues related to the number of heavy goods vehicles in the estate, and had recommended that the application should be refused. However, Councillors felt the benefits of allowing the businesses the opportunity to thrive within a permanent home outweighed these considerations.

One of the conditions of the approval which was granted is that the business will need to install the appropriate signage to stop heavy vehicles entering the street leading to the dance studio.

Maintenance work begins on A78

Essential maintenance works are underway on the A78.

The £148,000 project is being undertaken between the Dutchhouse and Monktonhead roundabouts by Scotland TranServ, on behalf of Transport Scotland, and is expected to take three nights to resurface the road and reinstate road markings.

As a result of the project, the work will be carried out under a full closure on the Greenock-bound carriageway of the A78 from 8pm each night until 6am the following morning. Traffic management will remain in place on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 May to allow road surface materials to cool, but one lane will be in operation in each direction from 6am each day.

YMCA Glenrothes receives funding to transform empty homes

Over £158,000 has been injected into affordable housing in Glenrothes to bring long-term empty properties back into use as homes for people who have experienced homelessness or are in housing need.

YMCA Glenrothes has received a grant from the Nationwide Foundation to go towards creating homes for eight people from empty properties in the town.

This new funding is awarded against a backdrop where the Scottish Government is being urged by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership at Shelter Scotland and the Nationwide Foundation to introduce a £5 million Scottish Empty Homes Community Grants funding programme so that more affordable homes can be created this way.

The proposed programme would build on the success of the English Empty Homes Community Grants Programme and would see more empty homes brought back into use by local organisations and charities. A total of £1,909,658 worth of applications from Scotland were received for the Nationwide Foundation’s empty homes funding programme, clearly demonstrating the demand in Scotland for a larger government backed programme.

Nationwide raise mortgage loan age limit to 85

One of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders is to increase the upper age limit for its mortgages to 85.

Following Friday’s announcement from the Halifax that it is to raise the age limit for people paying off mortgages to 80, the Nationwide has gone one further and upped its limit by five more years.

The move will be seen as the latest sign of the impact of rising house prices on buyers.

The building society said the increase was due to “growing demand”, and the limit would be in force from July – the new Halifax age limit came into force from yesterday.

The development means a 60-year-old Nationwide customer could take out a 25-year mortgage as long as they prove they can afford the repayments.

Nationwide said the new age limit would apply to existing customers for all its standard mortgages, but the maximum loan size would be £150,000, and could be no greater than 60 per cent of the property value.