Building Briefs – November 28th

• Hyatt selected to develop Edinburgh Marina hotel

The 187 room Hyatt Regency will include a two-bedroom presidential suite as well as 98 serviced apartments as well as an obligatory restaurant and bar.

The hotel forms part of a wider development that includes a 340-berth marina along with homes, a health spa and fitness centre, a conference and banqueting centre, new bars and restaurants.

• Housing transformation of Inverness site starts

Work has begun on a landmark development to reinvigorate the heart of Inverness and create new homes and business opportunities.

Over the next 16 months, the derelict building at 79 Academy Street, formerly known as Farm Foods, will be demolished and the prime site transformed into a new development of homes for rent to local people and commercial units.

The project to create new affordable city centre homes has been funded by a package including money from the Highland Council, the Highland Housing Alliance (HHA), the Scottish Government and the Highland City Region Deal.

Twenty-three of the 37 residential units, which will be mixture of 1 and 2 bedroom properties, will be for rent from the council and the remaining 14 will be mid market homes for HHA. The development will also include four small commercial units on the ground floor.

The project builds on the success of an earlier development on Academy Street headed by the Highland Housing Alliance that delivered 17 National Housing Trust mid-market rent homes along with 14 rented homes for the council in 2015. The council is also nearing completion of renovating the former Citizens Advice Bureau offices which will provide a further 4 new homes.

During a visit to the site by the Provost of Inverness Councillor Helen Carmichael yesterday, it was revealed that the new name of the development will be Wyvern House in tribute to the building’s history. In the 50s and 60s it was the premises of the SMT Vauxhall Garage and one of its best-selling models at the time was the Wyvern car. A Wyvern is a legendary creature with a dragon’s head and wings that often appears in heraldry and features in many Celtic images.

The contractor is Morrison Construction and the work on site will be completed in early 2020.

• Thomas & Adamson appointed to advise UAE’s 47th national day

Construction and property consultants Thomas & Adamson has been appointed by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court to provide Strategic Advisory Services for the 2018 event marking National Day 47.

The celebrations, taking place on December 2 at Zayed Sports City in front of a crowd of 22,000, will see the firm involved in the contractual, cost management and budgetary control for the event, that will mark the 47th anniversary of the creation of the United Arab Emirates.

This year’s production, ‘This is Zayed. This is the UAE’ is particularly significant as it brings to a close the ‘Year of Zayed’ celebrations, marking the centenary of the birth of The Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the country’s founding Father. The show will feature live performances, light effects, inspirational readings and visual art.

• CALA-sponsored charity lunch raises more than £55,000 for winter warmer appeal

Cash for Kids in the North East is celebrating its most successful charity lunch to date following a local fundraising event which raised more than £55,920 for vulnerable children in the region.

The inaugural charity lunch, sponsored by CALA Homes (North), enjoyed sell out success after just three weeks from the tickets going on sale, raising almost £30,000 from the sales of tables alone.

Held in the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen, 30 tables of North East businesses joined together for an afternoon of entertainment with Grant Stott hosting the event along with a performance from renowned comedian Craig Hill.

Helping ensure disadvantaged children in the area have suitable winter attire before the cold weather sets in, the funds raised will be used to provide vouchers for families to purchase not only coats but also gloves, hats, scarves and suitable shoes for disadvantaged children who may otherwise be faced with braving cold and wet weather unprepared this winter. 

• Average rents increase in all but four areas across Scotland

The average rent for a two bedroom property rose in the past year in all but four areas across Scotland, according to the latest figures from the Scottish Government.

Increases ranged from 0.3% in Perth and Kinross to 6.5% in Lothian. The areas that didn’t see an increase include Aberdeen and Shire, Greater Glasgow and Renfrewshire/Inverclyde; Aberdeen and Shire actually saw a decrease of 4.1%, the fourth consecutive annual decrease, which is likely to reflect decreased demand for rental properties in recent years following the downturn in the oil industry.

These regional trends combine to show an increase of 1.5% in average rents for two bedroom properties from £643 in 2017 to £652 in 2018. This compares to an increase in the UK Consumer Price Index of 2.4% in the year to Sept-18.

Over the longer eight year period from 2010 to 2018, average rents for two bedroom properties in Lothian, Greater Glasgow and Forth Valley have risen faster than the rate of inflation of 18.7% over the full length of this time period, with all other 15 areas of Scotland seeing cumulative rent increases below the rate of inflation.

Scotland’s Chief Statistician, who released the statistics on private sector rent levels from 2010 to 2018, based the following main findings on two bedroom properties because these are the most prevalent size of property in the private rented sector.

Figures on average rents across all property size categories, i.e. for one, two, three, and four bedroom properties as well as one bedroom shared properties, are available in the main publication.

Over the eight year period from 2010 to 2018, the Lothian area has seen the highest increase in private rents for two bedroom properties, with average monthly rents rising by 42.3% (cumulative increase over 8 years), whilst average rents in the Greater Glasgow area have risen by a cumulative 31.3%.

For the remaining areas of Scotland, cumulative increases over the last eight years have ranged from 1.7% in Aberdeen and Shire to 19.5% in Forth Valley. These regional trends combine to show a 21.6% cumulative increase in average rents from 2010 to 2018 for two bedroom properties at the Scotland level.

For the year to end-September 2018, Lothian had the highest average monthly rents for two bedroom properties across Scotland (£946). Other areas with higher than average (£652) rents included Greater Glasgow (£740), East Dunbartonshire (£684) and Aberdeen and Shire (£654). Areas with the lowest average rents for two bedroom properties were Dumfries and Galloway (£461) and The Ayrshires (£475).

Figures on changes to rents over the period from 2010 to 2018 should be considered in the context of the cumulative increase in the UK Consumer Price Index of 18.7% from Sept-10 to Sept-18.

• Over two thirds of residents support increasing cycling infrastructure

More than two thirds of residents in Glasgow, Stirling and Perth want protected space for cycling, according to the UK’s most comprehensive assessment of cycling in cities.

The Bike Life reports, which are produced by Sustrans in partnership with Glasgow, Stirling and Perth and Kinross councils and funded by Transport Scotland, found that of the 3,300 people surveyed in the three cities, 82% in Glasgow, 69% in Perth, 83% in Stirling support building more protected roadside cycle lanes even when this could mean less space for other road traffic.

Additionally, the Bike Life reports found that as well as thinking their city would be a better place to live and work if more people cycled (67% Glasgow, 66% Perth, 71% Stirling), more than two thirds of people  would like to see more money spent on cycling in their city (78% Glasgow, 69% Perth, 76% Stirling).

However, the survey also found that there is a huge potential for more people to ride bikes across the three cities, with 7% of residents or less in each of the three cities claiming to usually travel to and from work by bicycle (7% Glasgow, 1% Perth, 3% Stirling).

This is despite at least one third of households in each city owning at least one adult bike (40% Glasgow, 34% Perth, 33% Stirling).

Bike Life also found that people cycling in the three cities take up to 14,291 cars off roads each day and contributes £68.4 million to the cities annually in economic benefit in total.