Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT), part of the First Ark Group, which is committed to creating a successful and sustainable community for people and businesses in Knowsley, has completed work on a new scheme that will complement extra care development, Bluebell Park. 

Nine stylish new bungalows have been built on Alamein Road in Huyton, Knowsley, opposite the Bluebell development, which is due to be completed in autumn this year. Although independent from Bluebell Park, bungalow residents will be able to use the facilities in the extra care scheme if they wish to*, which include an on-site care team, restaurant, and hairdresser. 

As part of the Home & Communities Agency’s pledge to increase the supply of new affordable homes in England, KHT was awarded a £835,000 grant to deliver 59 homes to Knowsley by March 2016. The Alamein bungalow scheme is the first to be completed from the funding pot and offers residents a high quality and sustainable living environment with the option to tailor a support package specifically for their individual requirements when Bluebell Park opens. 

The University of Bath has developed an innovative MSc in Modern Building design as part of the HEFCE Postgraduate Support Scheme, a £25 million publicly funded programme.

The Faculty of Engineering & Design has worked with employers in engineering and architecture to develop and deliver this unique 15-month programme, which will welcome its first students in September 2014. 

An innovative technology system that uses solar energy to heat buildings all year round is being installed for the first time in a commercial property.

The Zero Carbon Solution, which combines PV-T, heat pump and thermal energy storage, is being fitted into a 550m² office building in Faversham, Kent. Located at the Foundry business park, the property is a standard metal-framed construction and will boast no obvious visible signs of its carbon neutral credentials.

Built by developers Quinn Estates, the commercial unit will be home to renewable energy specialist Newform Energy, which is a joint venture partner in the Zero Carbon Solution with house builder Caplin Homes.

A report released today reveals that construction activity rose to pre-Christmas levels last month, after a sharp drop in February due to the bad weather. 

With the value of contracts awarded worth £5.2 billion in March - an increase of 7.2 per cent on the month before - experts are hopeful it will put the industry back on an upward trajectory with the value of new contracts rising by almost 25 per cent year-on-year. 

Action by The Survey Association (TSA) to protect businesses from the disruption caused by opportunistic, violent theft of specialist equipment has prompted the introduction of a bespoke, security system for the industry.

Datatag ID Limited, an experienced provider of effective equipment security schemes for other industries, now supplies anti-theft kits, supported by online registration, specifically for total stations used by surveyors in building and construction.

The private housing sector is driving a construction industry revival, although skills shortages threaten the pace of recovery, according to the latest RICS Construction Market Survey for Q1 2014. 

The speed at which confidence is returning to the market is revealed by the fastest rate of growth in workloads since the Construction Market survey began in 1994 (net balance 43 percent), with improvement being driven by the private sector and, in particular, the commercial housing sector over the next 12 months. Most significantly, the effects are expected to be felt across the whole of the UK, rather than exclusively reserved to the London and South East hotspots. In the North of England, 44 percent of respondents reported rising workloads, up from 40 percent at the end of 2013.

Kent based company, Green Gate Access Systems, has solved the on-going issue of access and security at Dartford’s ‘Orchard Theatre’ via the use of a cutting edge computer based access control system. The Paxton Net2 entry control system is connected to the building management network, allowing the use of swipe cards for employees and ‘disposable pin codes’ for known and pre-booked disabled visitors. 

The new security measures, put in place just two weeks ago, have enabled disabled visitors to request a parking space with a booking and receive a reservation and pin code emailed to them, for use on an allocated date and time slot. Theatre subscribers can also be issued with an annual swipe card. 

As we approach World Day for Health and Safety at Work on 28 April, asbestos health and safety failings are still commonplace, with a number of court cases arising in March. In response to this, NAPIT are urging installers to make sure they are aware when it comes to the hidden killer.

Three cases stood out and were recorded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE): On 19 March, a Bath building contractor was fined a total of £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £637 after exposing two of its employees to asbestos dust while working at a residential property in the city. On 31 March, a Portsmouth demolition firm was fined a total of £500 with £1,000 in costs after stripping more than 50 metres of potentially-deadly asbestos board without a license and potentially putting workers at risk.

International construction services company, ISG has won a coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category in recognition of the company’s sustained success in overseas expansion.

As the UK’s most prestigious business accolades, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise highlight outstanding achievement in the fields of innovation, international trade and sustainable development. ISG successfully demonstrated to the judging panel that its strategic diversification into new growth markets and geographies across the globe deserved recognition at the very highest level.

With more than 40 builders across the UK already up and running, and thousands of HUGs in production, demand for NHBC’s new online Home User Guide (NHBC HUG) is growing at a fast pace.

The NHBC HUG is the ultimate in online home management which replaces or complements existing handover packs for purchasers of new homes – it’s available free of charge with the Buildmark warranty, so NHBC registered builders can benefit exclusively from this value-added service.