Author: News_Desk

Brighton to house homeless in shipping containers

Brightonbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – In a clever move to reduce their pressing homeless list, Brighton has taken inspiration from a Dutch solution – converting old shipping containers into temporary homes.

36 converted shipping containers to be installed in the city centre has been submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council by housing charity, Brighton Housing Trust, and local developers, QED. The response is reported to have been overwhelmingly positive, and the solution may see further interest in cities across the country as a result.

Can a shipping container form a structuraly sound home? Ask your local surveyor.

Man in Cardiff reduces own home to rubble with sledgehammer

cardiffbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – A brother has demolished his own home in Cardiff over a will dispute that has dragged on 7 years.

Reaching the end of his wits, Mr McGuire took a sledgehammer to his semi-detached house to demolish the extensions and additions he had made to it during an 8 year residency (for which he had reputedly invested £200,000).  Police stood by powerless as he destroyed the private property.

If you have a property issue in Cardiff, put down the sledgehammer and call your local Chartered Surveyor to assist and represent you.

Willmott Dixon opens new Skills Centre

Birminghamsurveyors.com – Construction giant Willmott Dixon has now formally opened a skills centre in Birmingham to train over 2,000 students a year. That is despite a tough few years for the company that employes 1,000 people in the midlands and manages long-term repairs and maintenance of 60,000 properties for Birmingham City Council.

The Willmott Dixon 4Life Academy is housed in a 14,000 square foot office complex at Electric Avenue, Aston. Click on either link for local surveyors working with companies like this, as well as private clients.

Online study says move over Rio – Brighton is best

Brightonbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – Unlike Rio de Janeiro, world famous for its sandy beach and tanned locals, Brighton is more a case of pasty white, but endlessly enthusiastic, bathers and pebbles galore. Nonetheless, Lonely Planet has found Brighton to be amongst the world’s best cities with beaches – on a list to provider holidaymakers with a compromise between city breaks and beach holidays.

Parkour

PropertySurveying.co.uk – Parkour is a training discipline that developed out of military obstacle course training. It has since developed into a craze across Europe.

Practitioners aim to move from one place to another, negotiating the obstacles in between. These obstacles are typically mundane objects of the built environment (houses, buildings, fences, ramps etc.) It hit the news lately with the death of a 24 year old girl, who plunged to her death 17 storeys below on her first Parkour lesson.

Basic construction error results in £25k+ in fines after tenant nearly poisoned

Chesterfield Surveyors– In a case that came to fruition just before Christmas 2012; Chesterfield Borough Council has been ordered to pay more than £25,000 in fines and costs after a cataclysmic construction error almost cost the life of a tenant on Stand Road, Newbold, Chesterfield.

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Manchester Apartment Block Lies Dormant Whilst Housing Crisis Continues

Manchester Surveyors – Saltford Court, a tower block in Ancoats, Manchester was abandoned and unused after Manchester council closed it in the 1990s. A private developer purchased the building in 2006, but so far no action has been taken to bring it back into use.

Local residents want and need change. The block could be made into more than 100 much-needed apartments at an affordable price, so perhaps there should be a legal limit on how long a Developer can hold empty property before it is compulsorily auctioned?

If you want to bring an empty home back into use, contact your local manchester Surveyor.

Two Year Wait Ends for Whitehaven Hospital Redevelopment

Cumbria Surveyors – After a two year wait, Laing O’Rourke, one of the UK’s leading construction firms, has finally signed the contract for the £90m West Cumberland Hospital redevelopment in Whitehaven. The signing of the deal means that a £70m contribution from the Treasury can now be unlocked and will be released throughout the project in phases.

The project should have a wider benefit to the economy, including to related industries like property surveying. To find a local surveyor in Cumbria, click here.