New Homes

New Trade Jobs as Kwoks set to roll in £300m deal

Jan Telensky
August 31, 2012
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A £300 million development programme, part of an ambitious £8 billion residential scheme for London, is set to start in next year following an agreement between developers.

Capital and Counties Properties (Capco) today finalised the deal with Hong Kong developers, the Kwok family, to build 800 new homes around Seagrave Road in central London.

The investment is set to bring thousands of new trade jobs for the construction industry and encourage economic growth.

Proposals include building new offices, leisure and retail space as well as a new primary school, library and open public areas. The project will include 200 affordable homes that will be offered to tenants in nearby estates.

Ian Hawksworth, Chief Executive of Capco said: “We are pleased to have completed our joint venture agreement in relation to the Seagrave Road project and look forward to starting on site in 2013 to create this exciting new residential quarter for London.”

In accordance with the conditional agreement reached in December 2011, Capco received cash consideration of approximately £67 million from the Kwok family for the 50 per cent interest in the development, which includes the Seagrave Road site and other adjacent assets.

Olympic Legacy for the Trades as well sport.

Jan Telensky
August 3, 2012
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The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) has appointed Britain’s second biggest homebuilder to build the first of the five new neighbourhoods on the Olympic Park.

The appointment of Taylor Wimpey and asocial housing landlord L&Q will transform the 9.3 hectare Chobham Manor site, delivering 870 new homes and supporting thousands of new jobs in the trades.

Sitting between the Athletes’ Village and the Lee Valley VeloPark, the development of Chobham Manor will address the residential needs for larger homes, with more than 75% of the new homes offering family housing.

Daniel Moylan, Chairman of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said:“Chobham Manor will set the tone for the high quality neighbourhoods we want to create across the Park with new schools, health centres and community spaces to support them.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, welcomed the announcement by emphasising the future benefits for local communities and the increasing accommodation needs in the city.

Mr Johnson said: “With the incredible energy of London 2012 captivating audiences across the world, the long-term legacy of the Olympic Park is quietly going from strength to strength.

“The development of Chobham Manor is major milestone and will help ensure a thriving community on the Park becomes a reality sooner rather than later.”

Private Housing Starts Boost Employment and Create New Jobs

Jan Telensky
July 19, 2012
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Increased demand from first-time buyers coupled with the government’s increased investment in the housing market are driving new private housebuilding projects to grow by 40 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, resulting in more employment opportunities for people in the trades.  

New data published by construction industry analyst Glenigan has revealed significant year-on-year growth in the underlying value of new private housing project starts in the first two quarters of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011.

Glenigan forecasts indicate that the underlying value of project starts will increase by 29% over 2012 providing further employment opportunities for builders and trade professionals, including electricians, plumbers and gas engineers.

Glenigan said the findings are giving a strong indication that confidence is returning to the private housebuilding market, paving the way for more jobs in the building construction industry.

Economics Director at Glenigan, Allan Wilén, said that despite weak economic conditions and a fragile banking sector, housing developers have seen an increased demand from first-time buyers and the government’s incentive schemes which have helped them to make a swift economic recovery.

Commenting on the sector’s future performance Mr Wilén said:“While the threat of an increase in interest rates and the end of the stamp duty holiday have stymied the market to a certain extent, we expect the sector to continue to grow through 2012 and 2013 as the wider economy begins to recover once more.”

The figures from Glenigan, compiled through comprehensive data collation and exhaustive research, reveal that London and the South East continue to dominate the market having accounted for almost a third of the value of all new private housing schemes starting on site in the first half of 2012.

Construction Industry Legend revises profits UP!

Jan Telensky
July 12, 2012
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Barratt Developments PLC is today issuing a trading update for the Company and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) for the year ended 30 June 2012 ahead of its annual results announcement on Wednesday 12 September.

Highlights

  • Group revenues up by c. 14% for the full year to c. £2,320m, with total completions of 12,637 units
  • Group operating profit before exceptional items for the full year expected to be up by c. 41% at around £191m
  • Operating margin expected to increase to c. 9.5% in the second half and c. 8.2% for the full year, up from 6.6% in the prior full year
  • Full year profit before tax and exceptional items expected to increase by c. 158% to c. £110m
  • Net debt almost halved against the prior year to c. £170m as at 30 June 2012, significantly lower than previous guidance
  • Private forward sales up 34.6% to £378.4m as at 30 June 2012

Mark Clare, Group Chief Executive commented,

“This year has seen a rapidly improving performance across the Group and shows that our strategy is delivering, with profits up more than 150% and an almost halving of our net debt. We expect to make further good progress in the year ahead thanks to a strong forward order book, with private forward sales up 35% and more higher return land

The Future
Barratt Developments has made significant progress in both rebuilding profitability and reducing indebtedness during the year just ended.  Despite continued uncertainty surrounding the outlook for the wider UK market and constrained levels of mortgage finance, the industry has enjoyed a period of relative market stability.  Looking ahead, we expect the Government’s housing initiatives, in particular its mortgage indemnity scheme NewBuy, to continue to provide the industry with support.

In the current financial year we expect to make further good progress with more than half of completions forecast to be delivered from our more recently acquired higher margin land.

More Construction JOBS in South East England

Jan Telensky
June 25, 2012
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One of the largest providers of affordable housing in the South of England, Sovereign Housing Association, has announced it will build more than 3, 000 new homes over the next four years, paving the way for jobs in the building construction industry.

The ambitious plan will see 1, 064 new homes built by the end of this financial year, 865 of which have been already identified, the housing association confirmed last week. Under Sovereign’s new development strategy at least 276 of the new homes will be for affordable home ownership, forecasting a similar number of homes to be completed in 2013/14.

Development and Commercial Director at Sovereign, Phil Stephens, said: “The top priorities of our development strategy are to ensure that we deliver the HCA Affordable Homes Programme and to play our part in achieving Sovereign’s aim of reaching 50,000 homes by 2015,”

“Our recent successful bond issue has given us the financial strength and flexibility to continue delivering a substantial programme of new homes in our core operating areas in the coming years.”- added Mr Stephens.

It was revealed that Sovereign’s development will include a significant number of shared ownership homes as well as a growing number of market rent properties in key locations.

Mr Stephens commented that there is a definite gap in the market rent properties due to the rising demand from people unable to buy their own homes.

He said: “We will be looking to build on the positive experiences we have had so far letting homes at market rates in the West Country, and not only develop a broader portfolio of properties, but also diversify our revenue streams to enable us to continue providing affordable homes into the future.”