Building Briefs – March 12th

The first images of the revamp of one of Scotland’s key music venues have been published as first steps are taken to upgrade Aberdeen’s Music Hall.

Two applications – one for listed building consent and the other for a new access ramp at the front of the building – have been submitted to Aberdeen City Council for consideration by its planning committee.

Aberdeen Performing Arts has pledges of £4.9 million for the £7m project, with the city council acting as guarantor for a further £2m.

Cash award takes historic cinema close to £2.8m restoration target

One of Scotland’s oldest cinemas is on course for a re-development after an enterprise body announced it was giving £300,000 to the project.

The A-listed Picture House in Campbeltown has received the investment from Highlands and Islands Enterprise – bringing the total confirmed funding to just over £2.7m, just shy of its £2.8m target for the centenary project.

It is owned by Campbeltown Community Business Ltd (CCB), a social enterprise committed to transforming the cinema into the principal cultural and entertainment venue for Kintyre.

Student housing firm expands in Aberdeen

Listed student accommodation developer Empiric is to invest £12.9 million in a 123-room project in Aberdeen.

The firm, which earlier this week bought the former home of Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, said the scheme is its second deal in the Granite City and is expected to complete next year.

Lack of supply continuing to drive up Scottish house prices

A decline in the number of houses coming onto the market is continuing to drive up house prices in Scotland, according to surveyors.

The latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey found that 49 per cent of the country’s surveyors are predicting a rise in property prices over the next three months.

The upward shift in prices is in part being driven by a decline in the number of houses coming onto the market, with supply continuing to fall behind demand in most parts of the UK.

Sales expectations over the next quarter remain positive, with 37 per cent of respondents expecting an increase in transactions across Scotland. Across the UK the member forecast for house price growth over the next 12 months stand at 2.4 per cent (up from 1.8 per cent in January).

In the lettings market, demand continues to rise, while instructions remained steady. This is being reflected in the medium term view for rents with respondents, on average, envisaging an increase of 2.6 per cent over the coming year.

New property hub for Scotland

Deputy first minister John Swinney has announced the development of a land and property information hub for Scotland.

Sheenagh Adams, the keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS), will lead a task force to develop an online system that will allow users to find out comprehensive information about any piece of land or property in Scotland with a single enquiry.

This could include information such as school catchment areas, mining reports, flood risks and crime statistics. The hub will also include statistics that people often need when making property decisions.

Developing the system will involve providing access to the data contained across a wide range of sources. This will remove the current costs and barriers sometimes involved with searching for land and property information.

The keeper has already started to contact organisations such as the Scottish Government, Ordnance Survey and Scottish Natural Heritage to invite them to work with RoS on the project, which has been tasked with reported back to the deputy first minister in July.