Building Briefs – August 2nd

£26m housing upgrade begins in North Ayrshire

A £26 million programme of council housing improvements is well underway across North Ayrshire with hundreds of tenants benefiting from modern upgrades to their homes.

This year alone, North Ayrshire Council is spending more than £2.1m on 820 kitchens, more than £1.7m on 660 bathrooms and almost £600,000 on more than 180 window installations.

The kitchen, bathroom and window upgrades form part of the council’s wide-ranging Capital Investment Programme which will deliver benefits across the area.

The £26m housing programme also includes re-roofing; re-rendering; new central heating and electrical rewiring, as well as regeneration and refurbishment schemes and also the completion of 52 new houses at Montgomery Court in Kilbirnie, Fencedyke in Irvine, and Glencairn in Stevenston.

Lidl submits planning application for Port Glasgow store improvements

Lidl UK has submitted a planning application to update its store on Newark Street in Port Glasgow.

The refurbishment would see a new bakery, increase in the size of the staff welfare area and a fullyrefurbished interior to adopt a premium looking muted grey palette and fully glazed shop front to bring it more in line with their current look-and-feel.

The bakery extension alone will add an extra 67m² to the store, with space for 32 bakery products to be available on the shop floor.

The company hopes that a decision will be made on the application by October.

Prestwick beach asbestos removal work gets under way

Work is under way to remove potentially hazardous material from the beach at Prestwick in Ayrshire.

It was closed at the weekend over concerns about asbestos contamination.

A specialist contractor has been brought in to clear the area and investigate the source of the material.

South Ayrshire Council said the beach would remain shut while the work was ongoing.

Checks have also been carried out at Ayr, Barassie, Newton and Troon, with those beaches given the all clear.

Prestwick would normally be a popular destination for tourists during the summer months.

Grampian Housing Association tenants generate solar panels savings

Tenants of Grampian Housing Association are being given the opportunity to make free electricity while the sun shines.

An initiative, in partnership with Edison Energy, has seen solar panels installed on more than 400 of the Association’s houses in areas of Aberdeen city and throughout Aberdeenshire and Moray.

The amount of savings made by an individual household varies depending on the number of panels installed and how much electricity is used during the day, but some households may be able to save as much as £200 per year.

Grampian Housing Association is now able to offer tenants a switch to Our Power, the new energy supply company established by Scottish social housing providers. Our Power aims to reduce levels of fuel poverty by reducing heat and fuel costs for tenants and currently offers one of the lowest prepayment tariffs in the market.

The solar panels will assist in ensuring that the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) 2020 targets are met for a number of the Association’s properties. They complement other efficiency measures undertaken including air source heat pumps and external wall insulation, all of which are aimed at reducing energy costs for tenants and boosting their disposable income.

While it is an early stage for the Association’s latest solar panel initiative, its housing scheme in Newmachar, Aberdeenshire, had solar panels installed in 2011 and tenants there are benefitting from a minimum 1/5th saving on their electricity annually.

Grampian Housing Association is also helping to combat climate change, as the solar panels generate enough energy to displace 430 tonnes of carbon a year, the equivalent of taking 91 cars off the road for a year. It is also helping the Scottish Government meet its carbon reduction targets.

The initiative formed part of a larger project that Edison Energy were delivering across Scotland for four housing associations totalling 1510 installations completed in a four month period. The capital cost of the project was funded by Edison Oakapple Limited with support from Renesola, a major Chinese solar panel manufacturer. Edison Energy will continue to operate and maintain the systems over the 20-year duration of the Feed in Tariff, ensuring the maximum benefit is available to tenants across both Grampian and Scotland.

OFGEM investigation into SSE

OFGEM is to launch an investigation into SSE pre-payment meter processes.

The energy regulator said it was responding to concerns about the Perth-based company’s approach to switching customers to pre-payment tariffs.

The probe will focus on the impact of the process on those in potentially vulnerable situations.

Ofgem will consider whether SSE breached its Standards of Conduct, which aim to ensure suppliers treat customers fairly.

It will examine whether the company breached licence conditions, which require it to provide appropriate information, and ensure a consumers’ ability to pay, when suggesting alternative payment methods.

SSE described the basis for the investigation as a “historic issue”.