Building Briefs – February 24th

New social housing completed on banks of Forth & Clyde Canal

Councillor Frank McAveety, leader of Glasgow City Council, joined tenants of a stylish new affordable housing development on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal as they celebrate the start of Queens Cross Housing Association’s 40th anniversary year.

A total of 108 homes have been built by the Association at Timber Basin, a historic site next to a nature reserve.

The new development sees 73 homes for social housing rent and 35 flats currently marketed for shared equity.

The Timber Basin development brings the number of new homes provided by the Association for rent or shared equity since 2011 to 490. Work is also underway on two further developments: 68 one and two bedroom new build flats on Leny Street and 8 new build flats in an infill gap site at 830 Garscube Road.

The Association’s contractor, CCG Scotland, started to construct 98 flats and 10 houses on the site of the old Shaw & McInnes ironworks, overlooking the Forth and Clyde Canal basin, in January 2014.

Linked to the Association’s project, Scottish Canals are carrying out improvements to the Forth and Clyde Canal below the development.

Council rejects plans for waste plant in Glasgow’s West End

Plans for a high rise ‘energy-from-waste’ plant in Glasgow have been refused by the city council.

The authority’s planning committee rejected proposals for the facility to be built at South Street in Scotstoun after receiving almost 1000 objections.

Among the list of objections were allegations the plant, branded an incinerator by opponents, had the potential to cause air pollution and spread odour and dust over the surrounding area, adversely impacting on the health of locals.

Saltcoats Town Hall refurbishment completes

North Ayrshire Council has re-opened Saltcoats town hall to the public following a £3.77 million refurbishment of the Countess Street landmark.

This work included a revamp of the main hall and side hall to allow them to be used for civic functions and weddings as

The refurbishment was part funded by Historic Scotland and will be officially unveiled on 14 March.

World’s largest indoor ice-climbing facility to reopen next month in Lochaber

Ice Factor Kinlochleven, the world’s largest indoor ice climbing facility located just south of Fort William, has confirmed it will reopen to the public on Friday 18 March.

The £3.4 million West Highland facility, that’s also designated the National Ice Climbing Centre, has been closed since 29 July last year due to extensive smoke damage caused by a fire in the sauna area of the 120 year-old building.

Stirling Council joins historic building scheme

Stirling Council has become the latest member of a scheme aimed at preserving the city’s historic buildings.

The Traditional Buildings Health Check Scheme is the first of its kind in Scotland, a 5-year pilot scheme open to all owners of traditional building types within the City of Stirling boundary.

Launched in November 2014 the scheme is operated on a not-for-profit basis by registered charity the Stirling City Heritage Trust and funded by Historic Environment Scotland and CITB Scotland.

The scheme offers members impartial advice; an independent building inspection service; a ‘plain English’ report outlining maintenance and repair issues; and regular and affordable building fabric inspections, during which small routine maintenance tasks may also be completed.

Twelve of the council’s priority buildings have now been added to the scheme including the Tolbooth, Municipal Buildings and Old Town Jail. The distinctive Wolfcraig building on the corner of Dumbarton Road and Port Street, built in 1897, has become the scheme’s 100th member.

Rents in Edinburgh and the Lothians ‘see fastest rise on record’

Rents in parts of Scotland have soared by more than six per cent in the past year, the fastest rise on record.

The latest Scotland buy-to-let index from Your Move has found that average monthly rent in Edinburgh and the Lothians increased by £38 (6.4 per cent) to £642 in January compared to the previous year, nearly three times quicker than average rent growth in the rest of the country.

The rise comes as rents in south Scotland increased by £29 (6 per cent) in the same period while the Highlands and Islands rose by 3.7 per cent, Glasgow and Clyde recorded an 0.2 per cent drop and East Scotland fell by 1.7 per cent.

Across Scotland, the average residential rent stands at £548 per month as of January, just £1 shy of the historic record set in July 2015.

Average rents throughout the country climbed 2.3 per cent in the year to January 2016, equal to £12 in absolute terms.

Despite an average rent rise, the Your Move index found Scottish tenants are paying off late rent as household finances improve.

The report notes late rent across Scotland in January fell to 11.1 per cent of all rent due in the month - the lowest level since July 2015.

Slower house price growth is hampering landlords’ returns, which fell to 5.8 per cent in the year to January.

New executive director for National Home Improvement Council

The National Home Improvement Council has appointed Anna Scothern as its new executive director.

Anna has over 20 years’ experience in the housing and wider built-environment sectors. She is fully committed to re-energising the NHIC and making it once again both a valuable resource for its members and a national force to be reckoned with at government level, championing the needs of industry and the public right across the country.

Whilst at BRE, Anna established the National Centre for Excellence in Housing, a JV with NHBC which was the precursor to the Zero Carbon Hub. She also set up the National Refurbishment Centre which supported industry partners with an ambition to raise the energy performance of the UK’s existing stock.

Work starts on new Perthshire primary school

Work has begun on a new £8.9 million primary school tipped to provide “a wonderful asset” to a Perthshire town.

The new Alyth Primary School will involve refurbishment of the present Victorian building providing community facilities, and a new school.

A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said work on the new part of the school is scheduled to be completed by February next year.

However, they added that it will take another four months following this to demolish most of the current building.

The £8.9m investment by the council will see the new school attached to a wing of the Victorian-era building.

Last year, Perth and Kinross Council decided to put all the children at the primary school in one class to allow contractors time to assess what space was required for the new part of the project.

There then followed a detailed design stage for the main works.

These will include refurbishment of the Victorian building providing community facilities, and a new school including nine classrooms, a gym hall, dining hall and associated ancillary facilities.

Housing minister visits new affordable Midlothian homes

Minister for housing and welfare, Margaret Burgess, has paid a visit to new affordable housing soon to be completed for Melville Housing Association.

The 28 new homes, at Taylor Wimpey’s Cameron Gardens development in Bilston, were part-funded by a grant of £1.54 million from the Scottish Government, and made possible by Midlothian Council’s Affordable Housing Policy.

Building work on the 14 one bedroom and 14 two bedroom apartments will soon be complete with the 28 properties helping to meet the high demand for social housing in Midlothian, where there are currently over 4,000 individuals and families waiting for an affordable home.

The minister also visited Melville’s new offices at the Grade A listed Dalkeith Corn Exchange, made possible thanks to grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Environment Scotland. The carefully restored building, which will be completed later this month, will provide a new office for Melville as well as facilities for the community.