Building Briefs – August 8th

Two new developments, which bring a total of 405 new homes to East Lothian, have now been launched by Barratt Homes.

The two sites, one in Prestonpans and the other in Wallyford, just outside Musselburgh, are the builder’s first in East Lothian in over five years.

Preston Square, located in the West of Prestonpans, will bring a mix of 160 three and four bedroom family homes to market. Set to be released throughout the next three years, the properties are designed to help address the Lothians’ housing demand, particularly for young families and those looking for their first home.

Homes are also available to reserve at Barratt Homes’ St Clements Wells development, in North Wallyford. A total of 245 new three and four bedroom homes are designed to suit growing families.

Clark Contracts begins a Lidl improvement for Ayr

Clark Contracts is currently onsite completing improvement works to the Lidl store on Allison Street, Ayr.

The refurbishment of the store will include a new bespoke bakery, external trolley bay, energy efficient LED lighting, both internally and externally, a fully glazed shopfront and upgraded car park. There will also be improved welfare facilities for the staff.

The Lidl store on Allison Street is now closed temporarily to allow works to be completed on a refit to the store.

The current phase is scheduled to last for 10 weeks and the new look store will re-open in September 2018.

Albyn takes handover of Conon Bridge affordable homes

Albyn Housing Society has added another 28 units to its affordable homes portfolio after taking handover of a newly completed development from Compass Building and Construction Services Ltd at Sellar Place, Conon Bridge.

Consisting of 77 homes in total, the development is now in its fifth phase of development by the Highland-wide housing association. This latest addition comprises 18 homes for social rent as well as 10 homes available via Highland Residential’s mid-market renting scheme.

The new development represents a total investment of £3.8 million, with £2m support provided by the Scottish Government.

In recent months, Albyn Housing Society has also taken handover of homes in Alness, Braes of Conon, Inverness, Aviemore and Kirkhill, delivering significant progress on its commitment to bring 750 new homes to the Highlands by 2020.

Link hails completion of kitchen and bathroom installation programme

Link Group Ltd is celebrating following a successful year of kitchen and bathroom installations across its central belt housing stock by its in-house repairs and maintenance service, Link Property.

Link Property successfully installed 243 kitchens and 234 bathrooms during 2017/2018, receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and surpassing internal performance targets.

The installations were made possible through a special partnership with Procurement for Housing Scotland (PfH Scotland) to source suppliers of kitchen and bathroom products who would meet Link’s stringent technical and quality specifications, while also delivering excellent value for money.

Successful completion of Link’s kitchen and bathroom installations programme comes as social landlords across Scotland continue efforts to bring social sector properties up to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. The Standard sets a range of minimum criteria properties must meet in order to be compliant. These include a specific requirement that kitchens and bathrooms are in good condition.

Latest statistics show that the number of social sector properties in scope but failing to comply with the Scottish Housing Quality Standard fell from 90,000 in March 2014 to around 30,000 by the end of the 2017-18 financial year.

Cairn completes new development in Muir of Ord

A new housing development has been completed in the Black Isle village of Muir of Ord as Cairn Housing Association delivers on its commitment to build 400 new houses over the next five years.

Ten affordable new homes, comprised of two and three bedrooms, were built at Corry Road by Urquhart & Company and developed by Highland Housing Alliance.

The £1.4 million construction of new homes for social rent began in May 2017, and was supported by a grant of £794,160 from the Scottish Government.

Langstane employees pass ‘Understanding buildings and managing repairs’ City & Guilds training

Langstane Housing Association has congratulated its property services officers on passing their recent City & Guilds training course ‘Understanding buildings and managing repairs’.

Toni Sherriffs, Andrew Kemp, Neil Irvine and Colin Hay passed the training programme which aims to provide delegates with the knowledge and understanding of how buildings are constructed, recognise common maintenance problems and develop the skills needed to successfully manage the administration of reporting building repairs.

Forfar petrol station wins planning

An application for a new petrol station in Forfar has been approved.

The EG Group plans to construct a petrol station, retail unit, restaurant, drive-through and HGV parking next to Angus Council’s headquarters in Forfar.

Councillors were told the development could create up to 60 jobs in the town.

Planning officers argued the development plan deemed the site suitable for a range of uses including roadside services and said the scheme would be “a new, improved facility” for the location.

The design and substantial glass frontage of the 5,000 square metre petrol station and retail outlet were said to be “reasonably attractive” in the context of what currently exists at the Orchardbank site.

Officers added that overall, the proposal complied with development plan policies.

Soldiers Bridge reopens following £560k renovation

Construction work has been completed on a £560,000 renovation project at Soldiers Bridge in Fort William.

The bridge has officially reopened to the public.

The project involved the replacement of the bridge deck and handrails as well as the northern and southern ramps.

It was delivered over a two-year period by Highland Council with funding from Transport Scotland through Sustrans Scotland’s National Cycle Network Development Fund.

Keyline Scotland conquers Three Peaks and fundraising goal

On Friday, 25 May, Keyline Scotland decided to tackle the National Three Peaks in under 24 hours.

The challenge required a group of 12 relatively inexperienced hill-walkers to take on the highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland, starting their venture at the foot of Mount Snowdon, continuing to Scafell Pike, and finally ending at Ben Nevis in Scotland.

This amounted to a combined 23 miles of walking, a 10,052-foot ascent, and 462 miles of driving, all in under 24 hours.

Civils & drainage solutions supplier Keyline has worked closely with Prostate Cancer UK for over a decade. It holds various fundraising events throughout the year, including its prestigious annual summer Car Rally across Europe – which this July took teams all the way from Swan Valley, Northampton to Monte Carlo.

The Keyline Scotland team initially set a target of £4,000 that was easily met – and surpassed – by the end of May, hitting £5,400. With all funds now accounted for, the total amount raised for Prostate Cancer UK stands at £8,307.

To donate to the company’s support of Prostate Cancer UK, visit the JustGiving page for the Keyline Rally 2018: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/keylinerally2018.