Building Briefs – March 2nd

Knight Property Group Welcome Knight Frank to No2 Castle Terrace

Knight Property Group has announced that they have secured their first tenant for No2 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh.

Knight Frank, the world’s leading independent property advisor and global real estate company, have signed a pre-let within the city centre property. The tenancy comprises the first floor offices of 2,948 sq. ft. within the 10,955 sq. ft. building.

The building is currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment which is due for completion in May 2016. Knight Property Group have agreed to provide Knight Frank with beneficial access to their floor prior to completion of the main works in order to carry out their fitting out works.

Howard Crawshaw, director at Knight Property Group said: “Both No2 Castle Terrace and 110 George Street have had keen interest by potential tenants. The pre-let of the first floor of No2 is testament to the quality of the refurbishment being proposed and the location of the building.”

Star ratings for considerate construction sites

Workers, contractors and clients will be better equipped to demonstrate their on-site safety standard and consideration for the public, with a new star rating system.

The Considerate Constructors Scheme was launched to reward developers that run safe and considerate construction sites. It shows how firms care about the appearance of development sites, respect the local community, aim to protect the environment, secure everyone’s safety and value their own workforce.

The new 5-star ratings were developed after contractors and clients called for a clearer way to reflect this.

The initiative will include posters and certificates clearly showing the star rating for each site. To get a poster, registered sites need a scored Monitor visit that will translate its mark out of 50 into a star rating.

The original code was introduced to improve the image of construction, an industry which at the time had seen its safety reputation suffer.

One site has already been awarded a 5-star rating.

The new US Embassy site at Nine Elms in Wandsworth, which is being constructed by B.L.

Harbert International and Sir Robert McAlpine, is due to open next year.

Public consultation held on £180m incinerator plan

North east residents have been given the chance to air their views on controversial plans to build a £180million incinerator in East Tullos.

Three drop-in events are being held in the south of the city this week over proposals to create the scheme at an industrial estate off Greenbank Crescent.

The sessions coincide with the submission of a planning application.

If the proposals are given the green light, the plant would be able to take in 150,000 tonnes of waste a year – both household and commercial – collected by Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils.

From 2021, Scottish councils will be banned f rom putting any biodegradable waste into landfill. But the incinerator would be operational by then if the move went ahead and would produce low-cost energy – about 10MW of electricity and/or 20MW of heat for local users.

Council tax increases provide more ‘uncertainty’ for home owners

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has announced that councils across Scotland will be able to raise the council tax levy by up to 3 per cent from April 2017, following a nine-year cap on rates.

While those living in bands A to D will be unaffected by the change, those in E to H bands will see their council tax rates increase by £105, and up to £517, a year.

A spokeswoman for ESPC (Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre), said: “These Council Tax changes seem to be relatively low-level and we don’t anticipate it having a material impact on the property market, however it provides another piece of uncertainty for home-owners and potential buyers.

“Already this year we are seeing a new 3 per cent tax on second homes, there is the Scottish Parliament election in May, European elections in June, and the possibility of rent control being introduced.”

She added: “With many homes in Edinburgh valued at over £300,000, the increase in council tax from bands E to H is likely to have an effect on a larger proportion of homeowners in Edinburgh compared to the average across the whole of Scotland, which is stated by the Scottish government to be 25 per cent.

“Those with homes in the top council tax bands are therefore not only paying an increase in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax now, but potentially more in council tax too. However there is some good news in that pensioners will be exempt from these increases in Council Tax which, again according the government accounts, for a third of those affected across the country.”