Tag Archives: construction
Sharp increase in house building boosts UK construction market
A sharp rise in private housing and private commercial construction activity has pushed up workloads at the fastest rate since 1994, according to the latest RICS survey. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors third quarter construction market survey also shows that the shortage of quantity surveyors continuing to grow with 57% of respondents citing this issue as a problem. Despite this industry workloads continue to make a strong recovery, with 46% more surveyors reporting a rise in activity, up from a net balance of 41% in August. This marks the eighth consecutive quarterly rise in workloads. The private housing sector grew robustly across all parts of the UK, with the London and the South East regions seeing the strongest growth. In the private commercial sector, workloads also reached a series high, with a net balance of 59% more surveyors reporting an increase in activity. However, while still positive, workloads in infrastructure saw much more balanced growth with 27% more surveyors seeing activity levels rise. Significantly for Northern Ireland, for the fourth consecutive quarter, infrastructure and private industrial sector growth in Northern Ireland remained flat, 0% net balance. Across the whole of the UK, the main factors which were found to be limiting building activity were a shortage of labour, followed by access to finance and a shortage of materials with both at a net balance of 58%. RICS says that it is significant that demand for bricklayers increased strongly on the previous quarter, with 71% of respondents now saying that this is an issue compared to 59% in the second quarter of the year. Also, planning and regulation factors were the fourth highest limiting factors with a net balance of 51%. However, despite these concerns, the strength and breadth of the growth that is being reported is promising and feeding expectations for further growth over the coming year. As a result, 47% more surveyors expect to see profits increase, rather than decrease, and 58% more respondents expect to take on more people in response to the rising workloads. ‘Unprecedented housing demand, the bounce back from a very deep recession and government's commitment to invest £36 billion in over 200 infrastructure projects is driving much-needed confidence across the industry, translating into UK workload sentiment now standing at its highest level in two decades,’ said Alan Muse, RICS director of Built Environment. ‘Of course factors impacting construction activity, such as skill shortages and material shortages, must be addressed if we are to avoid capacity constraints and promote productivity and efficiency in the workplace, but it is equally important that the underlying framework for effective planning and delivery of projects is in place to ensure long term construction growth that is evenly spread across the UK,’ he explained. ‘Government must now ensure it builds on these foundations of confidence with the mechanisms to get house building and infrastructure projects out of the pipeline and into the ground. RICS believes a National Infrastructure Delivery Plan and enforced local planning are… Continue reading
UK govt already agreed to buy over 350 properties affected by high speed rail link
The UK government has now agreed to buy over 350 properties along the route of the new High Speed rail link from London to Birmingham. They are affected property owners who have served Statutory Blight notices or applied via the Express Purchase Scheme. This makes clear the government’s commitment to acquire a significant amount of the property required for the construction of HS2 before the necessary legislation enabling the railway has even passed through parliament. However, even when the government has accepted a Statutory Blight notice, care should be taken when negotiating a final settlement, according to experts at independent property consultants Knight Frank. James Del Mar, head of Knight Frank’s HS2 Team, pointed out that compulsory purchase and compensation legislation is complex. ‘Those facing Compulsory Acquisition or making a Statutory Blight or other compensation claim are entitled to be represented by properly qualified professionals. HS2 will meet those professionals’ reasonable fees incurred in assisting claimants,’ he said. He explained that the ‘disturbance’ aspect of a claim, for example, has a multitude of facets. ‘As well as the value of the property, which needs to be evidenced by reference to actual market transactions, there is the Home Loss Payment of a further 10% capped at £47,000 or a business loss payment for those that aren’t home owners,’ he said. ‘There is the Stamp Duty Land Tax, itself a significant sum, the removal costs and all other associated expenses which can be considerable. In many cases HS2 are hoping to settle on a full and final basis and are leaving little ability for claimants to come back if they’ve forgotten something,’ he added. Knight Frank has a dedicated team of Compulsory Purchase and compensation specialists with over 100 years’ experience between them. The team has a 100% success rate in its dealings with HS2 with all fees being directly paid by HS2. ‘It’s an enormously stressful event and taking the comfort in the form of professional advice is one way of diffusing some of that emotion and receiving the reassurance that HS2’s proposal is correct and appropriate,’ said Del Mar. Continue reading
Lending for homes in UK up 43% compared to a year ago, latest figures show
Gross mortgage lending in the UK was £15.2 billion in February, down some 6% compared with January but still 43% higher than the £10.6 billion lent in February last year, the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows. The CML also pointed out that it is the highest total for a February since 2008. CML chief economist Bob Pannell said that housing market indicators have continued to be strong over recent months, once seasonal factors have been taken into account. ‘First time buyers have benefitted most from the government’s Help to Buy initiatives, with the more recent mortgage guarantee scheme now starting to push typical loan to value levels higher,’ he explained. ‘The housing market got a further boost from this week’s Budget. This, together with benign developments in the economy more widely, should bolster short term sentiment and activity,’ he added. Experts believe that more new homes are needed to help the property market continue its recovery as lack of supply is holding it back. Duncan Kreeger, director of West One Loans, a privately funded short term lender, comments, believes that the market can only go so far without a sustainable supply of new homes. ‘While mortgages might be catching up with pre-recession levels, house building in the UK still falls considerably below these peaks,’ he said but added that building may have got a boost in yesterday’s Budget. ‘However, there are still many questions left unanswered. Some 200,000 new homes looks good on paper but we still don’t know where these will be placed. It’s all very well to build a garden city in Ebbsfleet, but if demand is greatest in urban areas, it’s unclear how this will help,’ he explained. ‘The hard truth is that to really increase the supply of homes where they are most needed requires complex property conversions and refurbishments and it’s still almost impossible to get mainstream funding for these types of projects,’ he added. According to Ian McGrail, managing director, FirstMortgage, the data supports the level of growth that his firm as seen at a company level year on year, as demand for mortgages from first time buyers and home movers remains consistently strong. ‘The results, showing the highest total for a February since 2008, pair well with our in house monthly figures, where similarly we have seen record levels of production. This growth looks set to continue steadily into the year, although we would expect activity to slow down temporarily at the end of April when the Mortgage Market Review comes into effect, as lenders get to grips with the reality of the reforms imposed,’ he added. However, Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), warned that growth could slow this year partly because regulatory changes on 26 April will act as a temporary buffer and also because the bar was significantly raised in the second half of last year. 'But the recovery is well underway and should continue to… Continue reading
