Building Briefs – March 5th

• Linthouse Business Park completes Glasgow Govan Travelodge

Travelodge entered into a pre-letting of the property, which is located close to the recently opened Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Europe’s largest critical care complex currently serving 41% of Scotland’s population. The hotel development was completed in January 2019, ahead of schedule, and is now open. 

The hotel was acquired by a private investor for £5.26m, an initial yield of 5.59%, following a competitive closing date. 

Ryden acted on behalf of Linthouse Business Park Ltd whilst CBRE (Belfast) represented the purchaser.

• Wishaw charity first to benefit from Barratt Homes’ Community Fund

A Wishaw charity has become the first organisation to benefit from Barratt Homes’ new Community Fund which delivers financial support to causes in the areas it builds in.

Chris’ House, a mental health and suicide prevention charity, has received £1000 from the housebuilder. Established by Wishaw resident Anne Rowan, the charity commemorates her son Chris, who took his own life in 2011 at the age of 36.

Anne began to cope with the loss of her son by focusing her grief and creating Chris’s House - a ‘Centre for Help, Response and Intervention Surrounding Suicide’. Chris’ House is the first 24 -hour, non-medical crisis centre in Scotland offering integrated support.

The Barratt Homes Community Fund will donate £1,000 each month to a charity or organisation in the west of Scotland, which improves the quality of life for those living in the area.

Last year £1.2 million was donated across the Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes in the UK.

• Next Union Chain Bridge funding bid to be made this summer

The next funding bid to help restore the historic Union Chain Bridge will be made in May 2019 - and if successful, major works will start early next year.

Built in 1820, the Union Chain Bridge is the oldest operational suspension bridge in the world still carrying vehicles, and through securing National Lottery support, it is anticipated that the bridge project can also deliver numerous cultural, heritage, educational and community benefits.

In March 2018, a first round National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) bid by Northumberland County Council (NCC), Scottish Borders Council (SBC), Museums Northumberland and community group Friends of the Union Chain Bridge to completely restore the famous structure, secured a £360,000 development grant.

It meant the £7.3 million project could move into the next development phase to progress the scheme further, ahead of a second round submission to the NLHF. That submission will now be made by the end of May.

• Dundee to approve £2.5m energy efficiency works

Council buildings across the city could be set for £2.5 million of energy efficiency works designed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 700 tonnes every year.

Councillors will be asked to green light the works by Vital Energi which could start as early as next month.

Lynne Short, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, said: “The works will include a range of energy conservation measures including LED lighting upgrades, solar photovoltaic roof panels, modifications to heating and ventilation and cooling systems.

“The contractor has guaranteed energy savings of more than £260,000 a year which is around a third of the total energy costs for the 17 properties. This is a great proposal that saves us money and saves the planet.”

Designed and installed in accordance with the Scottish Government Framework for Non Domestic Energy Efficiency the works include primary and secondary schools, libraries, workshops and multi storey car parks.

The city development committee meets on March 11.

• Families move into new energy efficient homes in Eyemouth

The keys to Berwickshire Housing Association’s latest modern affordable homes at Acredale in Eyemouth have been given to the tenants moving in to their new homes.

The new form the third phase of BHA’s new house building at Acredale, providing 30 new homes and contributing to the much needed affordable housing numbers in the Scottish Borders.

The project was shortlisted for Best Housing Award at the inaugural Scottish Procurement Alliance Awards in October last year.

Construction company Hart Builders Ltd has worked closely with BHA to build the new homes, with completion announced within 12 months of starting on site.

The homes include a mix of two and three-bedroomed houses with one-bedroomed flats and two ground floor three-bedroomed flats designed for households where a family member has a disability.

Each has been designed by architects Smith Scott Mullan Associates to be very energy efficient.

Because they are distant from the gas main, air source heat pumps have been installed in the houses, with photovolatic panels installed on the flats to help reduce the heating costs.

These homes have been developed in partnership with Scottish Borders Council and were partly funded by Scottish Government grant with the remaining costs met by BHA.

• £200k of Dundee school works to be approved

More than £200,000 of investment in school buildings across Dundee could be approved by councillors next week.

If agreed the programme of on-going maintenance and improvement will cover nine schools and be carried out by Dundee City Council’s construction service division.

Lynne Short, convener of the council’s city development committee, said: “Looking after the bricks and mortar of our school buildings is an on-going and important task because we’re talking about facilities that need regular care and maintenance. These tenders will see all sorts of work done from roof refurbishment and window replacement to playground resurfacing and new play equipment.”

Stewart Hunter, children and families service committee convener, added: “Our learning and teaching environments must be the best that we can offer and this investment will ensure that pupils and staff at the schools that feature in the programme have the best facilities possible.”

Covering internal and external works at primary and secondary schools the tenders will be discussed by the city development committee on March 11.

• Scottish house sales fall in 2018 while average price rises

The 2018 calendar year saw an increase in the average price of a residential property but a decrease in the volume of sales compared with the previous year, according to figures released today by Registers of Scotland.

Overall, the market value of Scottish property sales increased in 2018, continuing the upward trend since 2011.

The calendar year residential market review 2018 shows a 3.7% increase in the average price for a residential property in Scotland in 2018, compared with 2017, to £179,121. This continues the generally upward trend seen since 2012. City of Edinburgh and East Renfrewshire showed the highest average prices in 2018 at £266,118 and £259,577 respectively. The largest annual changes were seen in Midlothian, Falkirk and North Lanarkshire, with increases of 8.7%, 8.0% and 8.0% respectively.

There was a 2.3% year-on-year fall in the volume of property sales in Scotland, with 100,998 total sales. Decreases in sales volume were seen in around two-thirds (22) of all local authority areas. Excluding the local authority areas with the lowest sales volumes, East Dunbartonshire and City of Edinburgh showed the largest decreases, with falls of 9.1% and 8.8% respectively. South Lanarkshire and North Ayrshire showed the largest increases in sales volume, with rises of 6.2% and 2.9% respectively.

In Scotland’s city local authorities, Glasgow City recorded the highest volume of sales in 2018, higher than the City of Edinburgh for the first time since 2011. Overall, of the city local authorities, only Dundee City saw an annual increase in sales volumes in 2018 with an increase of 0.1%. Glasgow City and Aberdeen City saw annual decreases of 3.9% and 2.7% respectively.

The value of the Scottish property market increased by 1.3% in 2018, compared with 2017, to £18.1 billion, continuing the upward trend since 2011.

• Additional parking announced at Old Man of Storr site

Additional funding has been allocated and work is about to start to create an extra layby parking area for 20 cars on the A855 at the popular Old Man of Storr site.

These supplementary parking spaces are on top of the additional 60 parking spaces, along with a dedicated motor cycle parking area, which recently received planning permission as part of Phase 1 of improvement works.

With the announcement of the additional 20 parking spaces on the south of the existing car park, once Phase 1 work is complete there will be parking for 142 vehicles.

As part of the improvement works the Highland Council will also address road safety issues through a scheme of signage and other road safety measures including the introduction of a 50mph speed order, speed activated variable message signage and painted directional arrows on the road, either side of each of the car park accesses.

A separate planning permission has also been granted for the construction of a new public toilet block that will include male/female/disabled and baby changing facilities within the building itself and a chemical toilet disposal facility adjacent to the main toilet block which will also help with another identified problem of a lack of disposal facilities for camper vans etc. 

These projects have been made possible by the council committing £363,571 of capital investment that has unlocked £200k of funding from LEADER and £300k of funding from the Rural Tourism and Infrastructure Fund.

The council is currently undertaking procurement through the Public Contract Scotland tender process and it is estimated that works for the car park and associated works will start on site by May 2019 with a 10-12 week delivery phase. The public toilets and associated works will follow on from the completion of the parking at the end of the main tourist season to avoid any major disruption and it is estimated that works will be complete by February 2020.

The layby being constructed under permitted development rights is expected to be completed by the end of March 2019.

• Junction improvements for Hamilton’s Bothwell Road

Junction improvements on Hamilton’s Bothwell Road are set to improve safety and traffic flow.

South Lanarkshire Council is changing the layout at the busy Caird Street junction to reduce the number of accidents involving turning vehicles and to improve the capacity of the junction.

The changes will see a new right turn lane introduced for traffic heading south on Bothwell Road and turning into Caird Street and for traffic turning right onto Bothwell Road out of Caird Street.

The works are expected to be completed at an estimated cost of just over £500,000.

Meanwhile new traffic signals are being installed further along Bothwell Road to improve safety at the junction with the industrial park access road (by Booker Wholesale) – this work is being carried out outwith peak traffic times and should be completed this month. These estimated project costs for this alteration is approximately £300,000.