Plymouth’s new ‘garden city’ gets the go ahead.

plymouthbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – A new development in the Sherford valley has received the go ahead after years of protests and planning struggles.

The plans to build 5,500 homes on the east side of Plymouth come from developer Redwood and have now been approved by the South Hams District Council. All is not lost for protestors, however, as the planning submission must still be approved by plymouth City Council.

Read more here. For surveys in the Plymouth area, click on the link above.

Welsh Association increases investment in new homes

pontypriddsurveyors.co.uk – Areas like Pontypridd, caerphilly, Cardiff and Barry will all see increased investment in new homes construction, revealed by a new report from Community Housing Cymru. It says Housing Associations spent £802m in 2010/2011, up 16% from 2009/2010 and employed 6,300 people directly.

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of buying a new property in Wales, think about getting a professional to look it over and give you the peace of mind you need to plan for the future. Keith Batten FRICS has lived in South Wales all his life and is a Chartered Surveyors providing building surveys in Wales. Call now on 0800 880 6264

Construction industry unveils their wishlist for growth this Christmas

In the new Unlocking Growth in UK Construction report, complied by industry leaders and representative bodies across the UK, it is argued that stimulating growth in the construction sector will help solve the wider economic problems facing the UK. The group has compiled a six point focus plan which may help steer the Government’s future policy making.

To read the rest of this article, just click here.

Solar Feed-in-Tariffs cut drastically in Government review

As of 31st October 2011, the Government has announced that they will be slashing Feed-in-Tariffs for domestic solar installations. Government Ministers have emphasised the need to stay within the allotted budget in the face of falling solar costs, but critics are foreseeing a sharp contraction of demand and an end to free solar financing schemes and social housing projects.

Read more here.

Accelerating the release of Public Land – New document released

A summary report has been released detailing the acceleration of the release of public land into the hands of the private sector. The report includes further details on the ‘Build now, pay later’ scheme and is part of a wider Government effort to stimulate growth and create jobs.

To read the rest of this article and find the Government report, click here.

New homes constructed in England fall 6%

Government figures have been released today, indicating that the level of additional dwellings supplied in England in the year to April 2011 was 121,200, 6% down on the year before and 42% down on 2007-08.

That figure constitutes a number of new build homes provided at 117,700 compared to more than 200,000 in 2007-08 and 124,200 last year.

London saw the largest decrease in net additional homes, falling from 24,340 in 2009-10 to 17,830 in 10-11.

Net additions comprise the total of new build homes plus new home conversions plus new homes from change of use less homes lost through demolition.

A greater overview of the property market can be found on our monthly market fact file, here.