Building Briefs - October 26th

• Scottish new homes sector remains price sensitive despite the rapid recovery of rest of the market

Carole Mackie, Savills head of residential development sales in Scotland, said: “There’s no doubt that the number of agreed sales have increased since lockdown, supported by various government incentives. However competitive pricing by housebuilders, in line with locations across all price bands, will be critical to maximising demand, particularly as we face a harsher winter economically with the ending of the furlough scheme and returning uncertainty around Brexit.”

Savills research reveals buyers have been reassessing their needs during the pandemic and are looking to move quickly, rather than reserving a property with a long lead time. They are seeking additional space, often for homeworking, in suburban and accessible country locations. The quest for more room inside and out has seen the proportion of Savills upsizing buyers of new homes jump from 34 per cent of the market in 2017 to 50 per cent in the first half of this year.

According to Savills, buyers and developers alike are also embracing the European concept of the ‘15 minute city’ recognizing the benefits of living and investing in city neighborhoods where it is possible to avoid unnecessary car journeys by walking and cycling around the city, with schools, offices, public parks and the choice of artisan and high street shopping close to the front door.  

• Temporary Central Way footbridge lift closure in Cumbernauld 

Lift access to the Central Way footbridge in Cumbernauld will be closed for one week while essential maintenance work is carried out.

Alternative routes for pedestrians will be in place throughout the work, which starts today.

The lift is located in Ettrick Way, adjacent to the Fleming House offices on Tryst Road, and takes pedestrians to the Central Way footbridge and the shopping areas. The stairs next to the lift and the footbridge will remain open.

Two alternative routes will be clearly signposted: via the Cumbernauld Shopping Centre and pedestrian underpass at Asda; and via the Antonine and Cumbernauld Shopping Centres.

• More repairs needed to damaged bridge between Dundee and Perth

The reopening of the A90 Glencarse bridge has been delayed by three weeks after engineers found more “extensive damage”.

The bridge on the A90 between Dundee and Perth was badly damaged a year ago when a high vehicle struck it, and an extensive programme of repairs has been carried out on the bridge ever since to bring it back into safe working order.

After engineers successfully completed repairs to the underside of the bridge, they moved on to repairing the top of the structure in August.

However, after removing the road surface on top of the bridge, engineers found more extensive damage to vital parts of the bridge and the repairs are now expected to take another three weeks to complete.

The engineers are now continuing to repair the bridge, and it is expected to be reopened around mid-November.

• Angus Council welcomes SURF recognition for housing regeneration

Angus Council has been shortlisted in the Housing and Regeneration Category of the SURF Awards.

These are the same national awards that the council won two years ago in recognition of its highly praised housing project at Academy Court in Forfar.

Now in 2020, Angus Council is on the SURF (Scotland’s Regeneration Forum) awards shortlist for its project to build 12 new council houses for rent in Newtyle, in Dunarn Street next to the school, on a site that was surplus to council requirements.

The awards judging panel held a virtual meeting with council officers, to get a full appreciation of how Angus Council’s Housing and Assets Services worked closely with other council teams and the community to deliver an excellent project – one that will make a significant contribution to ensuring that people can access affordable housing in a rural setting and in so doing, support the long-term sustainability of the village.

Most of the houses will accommodate families with children and include four homes that are designed for particular needs. The air-tight, energy efficient homes take full advantage of solar power, helping to minimize fuel costs for tenants. In addition, fibre broadband was installed directly to the premises, to ensure good quality internet – an essential for home working and studying in the 21st Century.

Pupils from the local primary school have been actively involved from the outset, using the development as a project for real life learning. Biodiversity has proved to be an aspect of particular interest, especially the use of bird boxes and hedgehog friendly design.

Award winners will be announced later this year.

The Newtyle project is one of three new council housing projects currently coming on stream. The other two have seen tenants move into 40 new homes at the Abbey Quarter in Arbroath and construction of 10 new homes at Brechin’s Damacre Road nearing completion.