Category Archives: Construction industry

Controversial Sydney developer goes into administration as police search for owner Jean Nassif

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Administrator appointed to Toplace a month after arrest warrant issued for Nassif

A major Sydney development firm owned by accused fraudster and fugitive Jean Nassif has gone into administration.

Records filed with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission show an administrator was appointed to his company, Toplace Pty Ltd, on Monday.

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What were they smoking in Woking? Council tax payers need to be told

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Residents will no doubt have to pay a price for their authority’s risk taking and subsequent bankruptcy

Winning in the rollercoaster business of commercial property development is hard. Look at the share prices of the two FTSE 100 titans, regarded as the most diversified and solid operators in the sector. Since the financial crisis of 2008-09, which caused commercial property prices to crater, Landsec’s shares have been as low as 350p and as high as £13 and are currently 626p. British Land’s trajectory is similar.

Their investors collect dividends (most of the time), largely funded from rental income, but they also know that the value of the assets can be volatile. Less diversified firms have done much worse. Intu, a former shopping centre giant, collapsed in 2020 and an air of financial crisis has hovered over Hammerson for years. This is territory for conservative financing and strong risk-management safeguards.

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Housebuilders cut back on construction as UK mortgage rate rises spook buyers

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Work on residential building sites slips in May to weakest level since 2009

Britain’s housebuilders are cutting back on the construction of new homes amid signs that potential buyers are being spooked by the prospect of increases in mortgage rates over the coming months.

The latest report on the construction sector found that work on residential building sites slipped in May to the weakest level since 2009, apart from when sites were locked down during the Covid pandemic.

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Lone renter in ‘David and Goliath’ row with Montreal developers

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Carla White’s battle has shone a light on city’s lack of affordable new housing for those on low incomes

A single tenant in a Montreal apartment block has halted a multimillion-dollar development project in a standoff that has focused fresh attention on the lack of affordable housing in major Canadian cities.

Property developer Mondev has been trying for years to persuade Carla White to move from her small C$400-a-month (£238) apartment so it can demolish a row of mostly abandoned buildings and build 176 luxury apartments.

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Australia’s rental affordability drops to worst levels in nearly a decade

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New report shows average households are spending a third of income on rent while lower income families pay more than half their earnings

Australian rental affordability has dropped to its worst levels in nearly a decade, with the average household spending a third of its income on rent, as the impacts of the Covid pandemic continue to be felt on the market.

Lower income households pay even more, with more than half of their income going towards their rent, according to new research from ANZ and CoreLogic.

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Queensland council seeks to block disability housing project over fast-tracking concerns

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Two-storey development south-east of Brisbane at the centre of legal battle amid a housing crisis across the state

A legal stoush has broken out between a disability accommodation developer and a suburban Queensland council over a two-storey project and whether it deserves to be fast-tracked amid a housing crisis across the state.

Disability Homes Investments (DHI) said it is developing the property to house people with disabilities on a quiet street in Cleveland, south-east of Brisbane.

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Porter Davis liquidators unable to find suitable buyer to take over building of 1,700 homes

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Grant Thornton hopes to finalise discussions about solutions for parts of the builder in the next week

Liquidators for the collapsed construction company Porter Davis say they have rejected approaches from potential buyers, leaving the construction of 1,700 dwellings in limbo.

The announcement is the latest blow for thousands of customers of one of Australia’s largest homebuilders, which collapsed less than two weeks ago after it was unable to find a financial backer to fill a $20m funding hole amid pandemic-induced rising construction costs.

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Planning applications in England fall to record low in housing blow

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Experts say developers deterred by changes to planning system brought in by successive Tory governments

Planning applications in England have fallen to their lowest level in at least 16 years, according to figures published this week by the levelling up department that highlight the scale of the country’s housing crisis.

Local authorities received fewer applications to build new buildings or improve old ones in 2022 than at any point since before 2006, the earliest year for which the government provides statistics.

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Recycling rubble can help rebuild Syria faster, scientists show

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Tests show recycled concrete could safely be used in new buildings in war- and quake-stricken country

Concrete rubble from destroyed buildings in Syria can be safely recycled into new concrete, scientists have shown, which will make the rebuilding of the war-hit country faster, cheaper and greener.

Syria, which was also hit by a huge earthquake in February, has a vast amount of concrete rubble, estimated at 40m tonnes. The key barrier to recycling this waste is ensuring that the new concrete is as strong and safe as conventional concrete.

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Major Australian home builder Porter Davis collapses leaving customers in the lurch

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Another construction firm specialising in government projects has gone into voluntary administration

One of Australia’s largest home builders Porter Davis has collapsed and construction firm Lloyd Group has gone into voluntary administration in a hit to the sector.

Grant Thornton Partners confirmed it had been appointed liquidators of the Porter Davis Homes Group, covering 14 companies.

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Internal government briefing admits HS2 delays will increase costs

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DfT document appears to undermine ministers’ claims, saying jobs are likely to go and construction firms could be at risk

An internal Department for Transport briefing on the HS2 project has admitted delays to the high-speed railway will increase costs, appearing to undermine ministers’ claims.

The document seen by the Guardian says the decision to delay the project is also likely to cost jobs, put construction firms at risk of going into administration and that the department could face compensation claims.

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China’s top property developer expects first loss since 2007 flotation

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Country Garden’s 2022 forecast is another blow for country’s embattled sector

China’s top property developer expects to record a loss in 2022 – its first since the company went public in 2007 – in another blow for the country’s embattled property sector.

In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Country Garden said that the losses for 2022 would amount to between 5.5bn yuan and 7.5bn yuan (£663.6m-£904.9m). In 2021 Country Garden’s profits reached 26.8bn yuan.

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How retrofitting the UK’s old buildings can generate an extra £35bn in new money

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Heritage and property groups outline plan to boost energy efficiency at historical sites to create jobs, cut emissions and meet net-zero targets

Retrofitting the UK’s historicsl buildings, from Georgian townhouses to the mills and factories that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, could generate £35bn of economic output a year, create jobs and play a crucial role in achieving climate targets, research has found.

Improving the energy efficiency of historical properties – those built before 1919 – could reduce carbon emissions from the UK’s buildings by 5% each year and make older homes warmer and cheaper to run, according to a report commissioned by the National Trust, Historic England and leading property organisations.

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Daughter of Sydney developer released on bail after being charged with fraud offences

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Court hears allegations against Ashlyn Nassif, 27, relate to Skyview development in Castle Hill

Ashlyn Nassif, the daughter of Jean Nassif, a Sydney property developer has been released on bail after she was arrested by the New South Wales organised crime squad as part of a major fraud investigation into a controversial multimillion development in the city’s north-west.

Nassif, 27, appeared in the Downing Centre local court on Wednesday to apply for bail after spending the night in prison after a series of raids across Sydney.

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England’s new housing supply likely to fall to lowest level in decades, study says

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Home Builders Federation warns planning policy changes will result in government meeting less than half its annual target

Housebuilding in England is due to fall to its lowest level since the second world war, according to an analysis by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), owing to a range of government policies that threaten to dramatically slow development.

The study says the supply of new housing is likely to fall below 120,000 homes annually over the coming years, less than half of the government’s target, as a result of changes to planning policy and what developers say is over-strict enforcement of environmental regulations.

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Shares in UK’s top housebuilders fall as housing market cools

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Large estate agent chain’s profits also hit as interest rate rises and cost of living crisis put off potential buyers

Shares in one of the UK’s biggest estate agent chains and some of the largest British housebuilders fell on Friday, amid the latest warnings about the outlook for the housing market, as potential homebuyers are squeezed by rising interest rates and the cost of living crisis.

The share price of LSL Property Services, one of the UK’s largest estate agent chains, tumbled by as much as 11% after it warned on profits for the second half of the year and said conditions in the housing market had become more challenging than anticipated.

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UK housebuilder Bellway expects sluggish sales as interest rates rise

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Company warns that next 12 months will be tougher, with economy likely to go into recession

The UK housebuilder Bellway has said demand for houses has moderated since the summer and it expects the number of sales to be roughly flat over the next year against a backdrop of rising interest rates and a deteriorating economy.

The company completed a record 11,198 homes in the year to 31 July, up 10.5% on the previous year, as a booming housing market drove £3.5bn of revenues, up 13% and also a record.

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Housebuilders ‘lobbied against plan for electric car chargers in new homes in England’

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‘Blatant efforts’ by companies criticised by campaign group Transport & Environment

Britain’s biggest housebuilders privately lobbied for the government to ditch rules requiring electric car chargers to be installed in every new home in England, documents have revealed.

The FTSE 100 construction firms Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey were among the companies who argued against the policy in responses to an official consultation seen by the Guardian. The “blatant lobbying efforts” were criticised by Transport & Environment, a campaign group.

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‘They said it was impossible’: how medieval carpenters are rebuilding Notre Dame

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Project leaders at Guédelon Castle tell how their woodwork savoir faire is proving a godsend for mission to restore Paris cathedral roof

At Guédelon Castle the year is 1253 and the minor nobleman, Gilbert Courtenay, has ridden off to fight in the Crusades, leaving his wife in charge of workers building the family’s new home: a modest chateau that befits his social position as a humble knight in the service of King Louis IX.

Here, in a forest clearing in northern Burgundy, history is being remade to the sound of chisel against stone and axe against wood, as 21st-century artisans re-learn and perfect long-forgotten medieval skills.

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Demolition job: the Liberal party war surrounding NSW building commissioner’s exit

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David Chandler’s job brought him into close proximity with developers. In NSW, that means politics is never far away either

David Chandler, a tough-talking 40-year veteran of the New South Wales construction industry, had reached the end of his tether when he resigned abruptly as the state’s building commissioner in July.

The man responsible for getting developers to fix unsafe buildings felt he had endured attacks on his character, a smear campaign swirling through the corridors of state parliament, lobbying by former ministers and a deteriorating relationship with his own minister.

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