Building Briefs – May 26th

HLF awards £950,000 for the National Museum of Scotland

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced its initial support for the next phase of the masterplan to transform the National Museum of Scotland.

The award of a First Round Pass for a grant of £950,000 towards the £3 million project will enable National Museums Scotland to create two new galleries to open in 2018.

The two galleries will showcase internationally important Ancient Egypt and East Asian collections.

This project will be the fourth and final phase of a 15 year masterplan designed to transform the National Museum of Scotland.

This announcement comes as the museum confirmed it had reached the fundraising target of £14.1m to complete the third and current phase which sees ten new galleries of decorative art, fashion, design, science and technology opening to the public on 8 July.

Summer start for Madras College improvement works

Work to spruce up Madras College in St Andrews will be carried out over the summer holidays as the wait for a replacement school goes on.

Fife’s education authority has insisted its commitment to providing a new school in the area remains “as strong as ever”, despite Stepal (St Andrews Environmental Protection Association Limited) winning its appeal to quash planning consent for the council’s favoured site at Pipeland earlier this year.

In the meantime though, Fife Council will spend some money on the present buildings in South Street and Kilrymont over the summer break, with further improvements planned moving forward.

The initial work, which will include redecoration and the replacement of floor coverings, will be funded through the Building Fife’s Future programme in the first instance, until a review of the capital programme can be done at a Fife Council level.

Once the summer work is done, which should also take into account any outstanding health and safety issues at the school, a further report on what’s required is expected in September following consultation.

Plans lodged for Highland Reserves barracks in Dundee

Wellwood Leslie chartered architects have submitted plans for a military barracks and climbing tower in Dundee on behalf of the Highland Reserves Forces and Cadets Association.

Situated on Dalkeith Road, The Maritime Reserves Oliver Barracks will offer a range of spaces including lecture rooms, offices, a mess and stores and is designed to accommodate up to 45 soldiers.

Aberdeen student accommodation plans

Ardmuir Developments and Cumming and Co have submitted plans to build 40 student flats on the site of a redundant garage in Aberdeen.

The four-storey scheme is the latest to be brought forward by the student housing provider, which specialises in delivering contemporary city centre flats.

Incorporating private bedrooms alongside a dedicated bike store and amenity space the scheme will include shared bathroom/kitchen areas and communal break out rooms.

Inverclyde Council begins review of LDP

A review of Inverclyde Council’s existing Local Development Plan (LDP) is now underway.

The first stage of the review process is a ‘Call for Sites’, giving developers and landowners the opportunity to identify land that is suitable/feasible for future development within the region.

This key phase is being processed alongside the council seeking views from stakeholders on new ‘issues’ the LDP should cover.

The deadline to submit information is Friday, 24 June.

For more information, visit here.

Water improvements drop-in event to take place in Ardersier

A drop-in event discussing water improvement works is due to take place later next week in Ardersier, Scottish Water has announced.

Over £11 million will be invested via four projects to improve the region’s waste water infrastructure, including the upgrading of the Ardersier waste water treatment works.

The information exhibition will provide residents the opportunity to find out more information about the project.

The event will take place between 3pm – 7pm in the War Memorial Hall, Ardersier on Wednesday, 01 June.

First Scottish winner of UK empty homes award

An empty homes officer from Forth Valley has become the first from Scotland to pick up a prestigious UK-wide award.

Allyson Allison who works as an empty homes officer for both Falkirk and Stirling Councils as part of the Forth Valley Empty Homes Project, has been named joint winner of the Empty Homes Practitioner of the Year Award 2016 by the UK-wide national Empty Homes Network.

Allyson was presented with the award at the UK-wide Empty Homes Network’s Conference 2016 in Birmingham on May 24.

The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, which is funded by the Scottish Government and hosted by Shelter Scotland, has previously rewarded Allyson for her work in helping to bring hundreds of empty homes back into use in the Forth Valley area.

Mortgage lending up seven per cent to six year high

Homeowners in Scotland borrowed £1.8 billion for house purchase during the first three months of this year, the highest total borrowed for house purchase in the first quarter of a year north of the border since 2010.

The total was down 22 per cent quarter-on-quarter but up 1 per cent year-on-year.

According to latest Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) data, 13,500 loans were taken out over the first three months of the year, down 22 per cent on the previous quarter but up 7 per cent compared to the first quarter 2015.

First-time buyers borrowed £660m, down 24 per cent on the fourth quarter 2015 but up 10 per cent on the first quarter last year. This totalled 6,200 loans, down 23 per cent quarter-on-quarter but up 11 per cent year-on-year.

Home movers borrowed £1.1bn, down 21 per cent quarter-on-quarter and down 4 per cent compared to a year ago. This totalled 7,300 loans down 22 per cent quarter-on-quarter but up 4 per cent on quarter one 2015.

Remortgage activity totalled £780m, down 1 per cent on the fourth quarter 2015 but up 13 per cent compared to a year ago. This came to 6,400 loans, down 5 per cent quarter-on-quarter but 5 per cent up compared to a year ago.