Category Archives: Construction industry

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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Indonesian islanders sue cement producer for climate damages

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Claimants say they are experiencing serious negative impacts and demand Swiss-based Holcim pay compensation

Residents of an Indonesian island threatened by rising sea levels have begun legal action against the cement producer Holcim.

The claim for compensation, filed in Switzerland by three men and one woman, is understood to be the first major climate damages lawsuit against a cement company.

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Firms that refuse to fund cladding repairs could face trading ban

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Uncooperative developers to be threatened with loss of planning permission by Michael Gove

Developers that are refusing to contribute to the fund set up to fix dangerous cladding will be warned this week they could be blocked from selling new homes.

The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, will explicitly threaten retaliation, citing powers in the building safety bill that would stop uncooperative developers getting planning permission.

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Housebuilders pledge £1.3bn for fire safety work on mid-rise blocks

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Funds for remediation including removal of flammable cladding still short of £4bn government estimate

Major UK housebuilders have so far promised to spend about £1.3bn to remove cladding and other fire hazards from mid-rise housing blocks, but are still short of the estimated £4bn needed to avoid another Grenfell Tower-style disaster.

On Wednesday Barratt Developments and Redrow were the latest to reveal how much they would put aside to address life-threatening fire safety issues in the housing developments constructed by the firms over the past 30 years. Barratt said the decision would cost it up to £400m, while the figure for Redrow is £200m.

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Revealed: migrant workers in Qatar forced to pay billions in recruitment fees

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Guardian investigation finds labourers – including those on World Cup-related projects – were left with huge debts

Low-wage migrant workers have been forced to pay billions of dollars in recruitment fees to secure their jobs in World Cup host nation Qatar over the past decade, a Guardian investigation has found.

Bangladeshi men migrating to Qatar are likely to have paid about $1.5bn (£1.14bn) in fees, and possibly as high as $2bn, between 2011 and 2020. Nepali men are estimated to have paid around $320m, and possibly more than $400m, in the four years between mid-2015 to mid-2019.

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Irish homeowners hit by mica building scandal welcome report

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Figures better reflect cost of repairing houses made using defective blocks, say campaigners

Figures showing the true cost of rebuilding houses built with defective blocks that “crumble like Weetabix” could end the “torture” for thousands of homeowners hit by the Mica building scandal in Ireland, campaigners have said.

They have given a cautious welcome to a government-commissioned report that they say more accurately reflects rebuilding costs. If adopted by the government as expected, it would significantly increase the €2.2bn (£1.8bn) compensation scheme unveiled last December.

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EU urged to rachet up green energy standards for buildings

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Call comes after ambitious early draft of EU energy performance in buildings directive ran into opposition

The EU executive is under pressure to ratchet up green energy standards for buildings, as it prepares a further batch of legislation to tackle the climate emergency.

The European Commission is expected to propose mandatory energy efficiency upgrades for buildings in the EU in legislative proposals published on Wednesday, but MEPs and Green NGOs fear they will not be strict enough.

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