Building Briefs – December 19th

• New homes delivered for GHA tenants in time for Christmas

ENGIE secured a £6.1 million contract to build 54 terraced houses and cottage flats on the former brownfield site on behalf of GHA, part of Wheatley Group.

The company has now handed over the first properties, providing new, energy efficient and affordable homes for key GHA customers ahead of the Christmas period. The new homes are all built to the latest Scottish Building Regulations Silver Standard and will provide high quality and energy-efficient homes for social rent.

This week, the first new residents of the Cathay Street development were welcomed home by GHA and ENGIE, who provided Christmas hampers to help kickstart life in their new home.

• Partnership work delivers flat repairs in Coatbridge

Two blocks of flats in Coatbridge which had problems with falling masonry have now been repaired thanks to a successful partnership between the flat owners, their factor and North Lanarkshire Council.

The partners came together to use legislation to improve the appearance and durability of the Muiryhall Street and Dunbeth Road properties.

The local authority assisted the 48 owners and their factor through the use of ‘missing share’ legislation, which means that if the majority of owners in a block want to carry out necessary works to their properties, they can apply to the council to pay the shares of any owners who did not wish to progress these works.

The owners are in full control of the process throughout and follow procedures to pay their share of the costs. The council then pays the missing share monies. Once the works are complete, the costs attributable to any refusing owners are placed as a charge on their title deeds by the council. This debt, which attracts interest, can be repaid by the owner at any time or when they decide to sell their property.

The cost of the works was £230,000.

• House prices increase by 4.4% in a year

The average price of a home in Scotland continued its upward trend in October 2018 to reach £151,508, according to Registers of Scotland.

The latest publication of the monthly UK HPI shows that the average price increased by 4.4% on October in the previous year though it did decrease by 0.3% when compared to the previous month.

The figure compares to a UK average of £231,095, which was an increase of 2.7% on October in the previous year and a decrease of 0.2% when compared to the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in August 2018 was 10,400 – an increase of 9.3% on August 2017, although the figure of 10,400 sales is provisional and may increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index.

Average price increases were recorded in the majority (27) of local authorities in October 2018, when comparing prices with the previous year. The biggest price increases were in Glasgow City, East Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire where average prices increased by 9.3% to £135,238, 8.0% to £218,795 and 7.8% to £109,102 respectively. The largest decreases were recorded in Aberdeen City and East Ayrshire, where average prices fell by 6.0% to £156,774 and 3.3% to £94,681 respectively.

Increases in sales volumes were recorded in 26 local authorities in August 2018, when comparing volumes with the previous year. The biggest increases were in East Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk, where volumes increased by 29.3% to 243 sales, 25.8% to 571 sales and 25.5% to 315 sales respectively. The biggest decreases were in City of Edinburgh and Perth and Kinross, where volumes fell by 10.2% to 1,098 sales and 9.8% to 285 sales respectively.

Across Scotland, all property types showed an increase in average price in October 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Detached properties showed the biggest increase, rising by 5.4% to £263,300. The average price of flatted properties rose by 3.9% to £109,019, the smallest increase of all property types.

The average price in October 2018 for a property purchased by a first time buyer was £122,346 – an increase of 4.1% compared to the same month in the previous year. The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier was £181,812 – an increase of 4.8% on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale was £139,812 – an increase of 4.3% on the previous year – while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage was £156,934 – an increase of 4.5% on the previous year.

• Weight is over for charity fundraisers

Some of the team at Lochmaben-based Russell Roof Tiles can once again indulge in mince pies and Christmas treats after shredding the pounds and raising a £800 for local charities.

Employing 61 people at its site at Halleaths in Lochmaben, the roof tile manufacturer’s sponsored weight loss challenge saw 10 employees set a goal at the start of November to lose 100lbs between them.

After seven weeks of hard work, the results are in and an impressive 111 lbs have been lost between the group, with the biggest loser, Gordon McKinnon, losing a fantastic 15 lbs. Those taking part included regional sales director, Alan Young and area sales manager, James Pendleton.

During the challenge, Russell Roof Tiles held regular weigh-ins to ensure the loss was sensible and controlled.

The money raised through the challenge’s sponsorship will contribute to Russell Roof Tiles’ Community Fund - a communal pot where a number of local charities and groups receive a share to support the great work they are doing in the local area. Some of the organisations to benefit include Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes and Nith Inshore Rescue.

The challenge tops of a successful year of fundraising tor the team, who have cooked, golfed and volunteered their way to raise money.