Building Briefs – January 30th

• Public invited to Union Chain Bridge project consultation

Members of the project team and Friends of the Union Chain Bridge will be present at Hutton Village Hall from 11am to 1pm, then cross the border to Horncliffe Memorial Hall from 2pm to 4pm.

Information will be provided on the plans for the project’s main conservation and engineering work, as well as for exhibitions, site interpretation and educational and community events from a variety of members of the project team.

Engagement with the public is vital to the success of the project, with a second round Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid currently being finalised.

The ambitious project aims to conserve the historic bridge and is currently in a one year development phase after initial support for National Lottery funding from the HLF was approved in March 2018, securing a £360,000 development grant.

It meant the £7.3 million project could be progressed further, ahead of the second round bid submission in March this year.

The bid focuses on conserving and raising awareness of the internationally significant bridge, which celebrates its 200th birthday in 2020.

• Angus Council to improve housing aids and adaptations for disabled people

Plans to enhance the delivery of housing adaptations services for disabled people in Angus, including Care and Repair services, have been approved by Angus Council.

A report to the policy and resources committee were yesterday asked members to agree a contract procurement strategy for the supply and installation of housing aids and adaptations for disabled people in all housing tenures. This includes a Care and Repair Service to support private sector households to organise works and provide other services to older and disabled people in Angus.

Together Angus Council and Angus Health and Social Care Partnership spend about £1.3 million on adaptations contracts each year. A review of adaptations services looked at opportunities to make best use of this funding, while also making sure everyone that needs these services can access them equally.

Consultation with service users and providers, as well as other councils, was an important part of the review. The new arrangements are designed to be as straight forwards as possible for both service users and staff.

The tendering process will see the award of a three-year contract to supply and install adaptations (with a one-year extension option), as well as a contract (or grant agreement) to provide Care and Repair Services in support of private sector households for the next three years (with a one-year extension option). The tenders will be issued via Public Contracts Scotland in March.

• Savills: International interest sees three-fold increase in Scottish hotel investment

The Scottish hotels market saw investment volumes in 2018 reach £902 million, according to the latest research from Savills – a three-fold increase on 2017 investment  volumes (£195m) – across 25 individual transactions and components of 10 portfolios.

Savills data shows 69% of the total investment spend in Scotland was accounted for by portfolios (c. £621m) while individual transactions accounted for close to £281m, with the average size of transaction of £11m. The firm names the largest transaction in the region in 2018 was the £85m sale of Edinburgh’s Caledonian Waldorf Astoria to Twenty14Holdings.

International parties remain the dominant investor group in Scotland’s hotels market, representing 76% of the market, says Savills. Within this, French investors were the most active, with £279m of deals across a mix of individual transactions and assets within a wider portfolio (predominantly the Principal Hayley Portfolio) to account for 31% of total spend. Israeli investors were also key players, accounting for £109m of sales (and 12% of total investment). Other non-domestic nationalities all transacting in Scotland in 2018 include Middle Eastern (9.4%), US (4.3%), Sweden (4.3%), Canadian (3.8%) and Indian (1%). Savills says UK investors accounted for 24% (£217m) of all hotel investment activity.

Other key deals in 2018 include the sale of Jurys Inn, Edinburgh, to Fattal Hotels for £52m, and Swedish investors Pandox AB buying the Radisson Blu in Glasgow for £39m. Savills notes hotels including Principal Edinburgh George Street, Hilton Edinburgh Carlton and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Glasgow Central all changed hands as part of wider hotel portfolio sales.

• Stirling pool repair work ‘on track’

Repair work on the main PEAK swimming pool is “on track” following the discovery of a problem with the base screed layer in November 2018, Stirling Council has announced.

The council and Active Stirling announced the temporary closure of the pool last year to allow works to be carried out and the project remains on schedule to be completed by the end of March, 2019.

During investigations into the main pool, an issue has also been identified with the training pool which requires urgent repairs.

Examination of this pool presented a greater technical challenge due to its movable floor, and a specialist diving company were brought in to allow an assessment to be made after concerns were raised.