Building Briefs – March 27th
Reading time: 6 minutes
Contract signing marks £8m investment in DGHP homes
Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership (DGHP) has signed a contract worth up to £8 million to invest in new external wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, rendering and roofing for properties across the region.
Tenants in around 800 DGHP homes across Dumfries and Galloway will benefit from increased energy efficiency and reductions in the cost of heating their homes as a result of the award of the contract to SERS Energy Solutions (Scotland).
The programme is one of two major investment contracts to be signed to benefit tenants in Dumfries and Galloway, with a contract for new windows to follow shortly.
In detail, the programme will see tenants benefit from improved levels of insulation, external weather tightness and an improved external appearance.
The programme, which will begin in the spring of this year, is expected to last two years.
Fire-damaged Glasgow nightclub to be demolished
A fire-ravaged block of buildings on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street is to be demolished, the council has confirmed.
A major blaze ripped through the block, which housed businesses including Victoria’s nightclub, on Thursday.
The council has now said the buildings are unsafe and will have to be pulled down by their owners.
The fire was one of the biggest faced by Scotland’s fire service since it was amalgamated nearly five years ago.
The fire took hold in the roof of the building at about 08:20 on Thursday.
At the height of the blaze, more than 120 firefighters and 20 fire engines were mobilised to the city centre.
The buildings at 92-96 and 98-106 Sauchiehall Street will now be demolished.
Among the businesses affected are Specsavers, Holland & Barrett, Savers, The Works and Greggs. Businesses on the opposite side of the busy shopping street - McDonalds, EE and Mountain Warehouse - will also be sealed off due to the demolition process.
A council spokesman said: “Roads and pathways around the site will be closed for a considerable time - a likely estimate is two months for some of them - to allow demolition, and more detailed information will be made available as soon as possible throughout the process.
“We have met with the owners of buildings affected by the fire and will maintain this dialogue over the period.”
New homes approved in Cairngorms National Park
A variety of new houses at opposite ends of the Cairngorms National Park have been given the go ahead.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority planning committee approved an application from Atholl Estates to build eight, two-bedroom homes in the village of Blair Atholl in Highland Perthshire, aimed at the affordable rented market.
An application to turn the former secondary school in Tomintoul – which was closed by Moray Council in 2000 – into houses was also granted permission. This development will see the demolition of the old school and nine properties built on the site. The houses are a mixture of two and three bedrooms with three of the units being affordable homes.
The Tomintoul and Glenlivet area has been the focus of a multi-million pound regeneration initiative in recent years.
To read these planning applications in full please go here.
New council developments in Cumbernauld open doors to tenants
Tenants are making themselves at home after moving in to North Lanarkshire Council’s latest two newly completed housing developments in Cumbernauld.
These new developments at Nursery Court, Kildrum and Cardowan Drive, Blackwood, are part of the council’s exciting new house building programme, NL Homes, which aims to deliver 2,150 homes by 2027.
The Nursery Court development at Kildrum, delivered by Lovell, comprises 16 cottage flats, with an equal split of one and two bedroom properties.
A mix of thirty new homes occupies the site of Cardowan Drive, which was also completed by Lovell.
Local projects self and custom build housing projects to benefit from national fund
Projects from across Scotland are to share £160,000 to take forward self and custom build housing initiatives.
The Self and Custom Build Challenge Fund will support seven pilot projects in Argyll and Bute, Perth and Kinross, Highland, Glasgow and Edinburgh that will look into the feasibility of creating more self or custom built homes.
The projects will consider how the delivery of homes through custom building projects can be expanded; the provision of information and support to those leading their own build, and also explore how more plots can be made available.
Applications to the fund opened in December 2017. Originally set at £90,000, a further £70,000 has been made available as a result of the number and strength of applications.
More information on the self and custom build challenge fund is available online.
The successful projects include:
Creation of a brochure of house types that would comply with the simplified planning zone (SPZ) scheme and promotional marketing campaign involving a video and community engagement.
Produce a development strategy to look at the feasibility and funding options to offer affordable self/ custom build home plots.
Planning and delivery of sites and a marketing strategy to support self and custom built homes.
Guidance on self and custom build planning and delivery.
Creation of marketing strategy for custom build development and engagement with off-site manufacturing sector to consider opportunities for on-site custom build.
Research to explore how custom build can be improved for wider use.
Establish a delivery model to facilitate custom build at scale, with emphasis on low carbon homes.
Community café has growth on the menu with City Building support
City Building has boosted a Glasgow community café’s plans to expand after donating much needed catering equipment.
The Glasgow-based construction company provided growing social enterprise Milk Café, which is based in the Govanhill area of the city, with an integrated coffee machine and fridge. Both items had previously been on display in the firm’s Darnick Street headquarters. A brand new microwave was also gifted to the café from City Building supplier Thain Commercial.
The donation will help Milk Café’s plans to grow. Established in 2015 by two local residents Angela Ireland and Gabby Cluness to provide employment, training and support to refugees and migrant women the café is now introducing an outside catering service. The new service is expected to create further jobs.
Milk Café’s contribution to Govanhill has been recognised by a number of awards. Last year it was a finalist in the Evening Times Community Champions and it was also runner up in the Best Ethical Food Project category at the Observer Food Magazine Awards 2017.
City Building arranged the donation in partnership with Govanhill Housing Association.
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