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Straw houses go onto UK general sales market
Houses made of straw are on sale on the open market for the first time in the UK after becoming eligible for standard mortgages. Until now the eco-homes have been the preserve of bespoke building projects and financed through specialist lenders but now a row of seven straw houses in Bristol have now become the first to secure building certification which makes them eligible for a standard mortgage. The two and three bedroom properties will each use more than seven tonnes of straw and reduce heating costs by 90% compared to the average brick house, according to Professor Pete Walker from the University of Bath who led a project to develop and test the construction method. They homes are due to be completed in April and are on sale priced between £220,000 and £240,000. ‘I think there's a lot of misconception about using straw, especially about fire resistance. As a construction material straw is a low cost and widely available product that offers real potential for ultra low carbon housing throughout the UK,’ said Walker. ‘Building with straw could be a critical point in our trajectory towards a low carbon future. The great thing about the houses is that they are affordable and in addition the energy costs will be extremely low, under £100 a year,’ he explained. The houses are currently undergoing a 10 week construction programme by developers Connolly and Callaghan in Shirehampton, Bristol. Each wall is the same thickness as a normal bale of straw, framed in timber and encased in wooden boards. In addition compressed straw board will line the walls throughout the house as a replacement for plaster board and once built, the terraced houses will be clad in brick so they will be indistinguishable from the other properties in the street. The only hint of their remarkable construction method will be a 'truth window' in each property where a section of straw wall will be visible through a window. Although these are not the first houses in the UK to be built using straw bales, they are the first to be built for any buyer on the open market. The straw design has received BM Trada's Q mark certification, meaning developers and house buyers can now insure and secure mortgages against the homes. ‘First and foremost the work has demonstrated that straw bales create safe, durable and affordable houses. They make contributions to reducing fuel poverty and make significant contributions to reducing energy bills of building occupants,’ Walker pointed out. He added that there are also wider benefits. ‘Buildings contribute around 50% of the carbon emissions in this country. Producing lower… Continue reading
UK commercial property rental value reaches highest growth since 2007
UK commercial property markets have recorded their highest rental value growth since the third quarter of 2007, a new report from real estate firm CBRE shows. Of 1,022 locations monitored, some 16% showed an increase in rental value but prime yields fell by an average of 8 basis points and the UK All Property average currently stands at 5.6%, with 35% of locations recording falling yields. In 2014 total prime rental value growth was 3.8%, up from 2.8% in 2013, with the rate increasing steadily over the last 12 months. The average prime yield recorded a fall of 41 basis points over 2014, compared to 32 bps in 2013, and the combination of continued falls in yields and strengthening rental value growth resulted in capital value growth of 11.8% for 2014. ‘During 2014 we have seen prime rental growth strengthening across many UK markets. Prime yields also recorded a substantial improvement, reflecting the growth in investment activity over the last year,’ said Michael Haddock, CBRE senior director. ‘At a national level, total transaction volume reached £61.7 billion in 2014 compared to £54.5 billion in 2013 and just beating the total reached in 2006,’ he explained. Within the office sector, central London experienced the strongest rental value growth, at 11.4% in 2014 compared with 8.1% for the UK as a whole. However, yields are showing the reverse of this pattern, with the strongest falls in office yields being recorded in the rest of the UK. Over 2014, the South East and Eastern regions stood out because of the lack of rental value growth. The report explains that yield shift is spreading to the rest of the country meaning that capital value growth has been fairly evenly distributed across the country. In contrast the industrial sector is seeing an even pattern of both rental value growth and yield shift across the country, although the West Midlands, which is experiencing a shortage of good quality industrial space, appears to be leading the way. Yields in the shopping centre and retail warehouse sectors stabilised in the fourth quarter 2014 after sharp declines in the first three quarters. Although, prime yields were flat in these two sectors in the last quarter, they have recorded the highest average fall for the year as a whole, with the average prime yield down by 53 and 63 basis points respectively compared to the all sector average of 41 basis points. ‘Capital value growth in the Office sector has been seen across the whole of the UK. Central London recorded growth of 7.2% for the quarter and 15.6% for the year as a whole,’ said Andrew Marston, CBRE director. ‘However, the gap between London and the rest of the UK is narrowing, with capital value growth of 10.6% for the UK, excluding London, South East and Eastern. In the fourth quarter of 2014 East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the highest capital value growth in the office sector. ‘All Industrials also performed very… Continue reading
Call for land reform in Scotland to be transparent and workable
Scottish Government proposals for land reform need to be coherent, clear and workable, according to the Law Society of Scotland. Submitting its response to the consultation on the future of land reform in Scotland, the society said that careful consideration should be given to ensure that pre-existing legislation it taken into account. While the Scottish Government has laid out proposals for a potential Land Reform Bill and the setting up of a Land Reform Commission, it is unclear at this stage what the remit or structure of such a Commission would be. ‘A new Scottish Land Reform Commission seems an appropriate way forward for progressing land reform in Scotland,’ said Paul Connolly, convener of the society’s property and land law committee. ‘We would suggest that if this proposal were to move forward, that there should be further engagement with stakeholders. Any such Commission must also ensure that it remains independent from executive influence and represents the interest of all stakeholders, such as agricultural tenants, crofters and charities,’ he added. The consultation also considers improving the transparency and accountability of land ownership in Scotland by limiting those who can own or take a long lease over land to legal entities registered in a European Union Member State. ‘We are concerned about this proposal. Restrictions such as these could be easily by-passed by non-EU companies setting up shell companies in the EU, for example a non-EU company could set up a UK registered company,’ said Connolly. ‘This would not necessarily fulfil the Scottish Government’s policy objectives of achieving greater transparency regarding the real land owner. It could also affect not only commercial land, but residential and agricultural land as well, thus having a potentially serious impact on business, and reducing investment,’ he explained. The consultation also proposes to impose further obligations on charities that own land, such as imposing a duty to consult with the local community before taking a decision on the management, use or transfer of land under their control. Stephen Phillips, convener of the society’s charity law committee, pointed out that there are already a number of regulatory obligations that are imposed on charities. ‘We see no reason why further obligations should be imposed on them,’ he added. ‘Under the proposals, a high street charity shop, for example, may be under an obligation to consult with the local community before it undertakes everyday repairs, such a roof repairs. This just seems wholly unnecessary and cumbersome in practice, and potentially expensive for charities without proportionate benefit to local communities,’ he concluded. Continue reading
