News

25 Jan 2023

SPANISH HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION NEWS

The Spanish construction sector is lobbying the government to extend the exceptional material price review mechanism ahead of the decree expiring next March following its entry into force just over two years ago. Prices for basic materials remain high and trade associations fear losing this protection. According to various industry sources consulted by the newspaper “Cinco Dias”, the government would not respond to the companies, either officially or unofficially. Last November, the Transport Ministry expanded the basket of materials included in the review mechanism, including: concrete, ceramic materials, wood, plastics, chemicals and glass.

The sector also requests that the amount of the economic rebalancing can be raised from the threshold of 20 percent of the amount awarded for the work, in force up to now, and that all economic impacts are considered for the purposes of compensation. Another sectoral request is that the calculation of the price change start from the last day available for the submission of offers and not from the signing of the contract. The latter usually occurs much later than the submission of offers, which means that the costs may already have changed from what was budgeted and the damage remains the responsibility of the contractor.

2 Jan 2023

UK HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION NEWS

Construction faces significant headwinds this year as the UK slips into recession and as structural changes in the economy reshape the demand. As the pattern of construction activity changes, firms will be need to be ready to tap into new opportunities as they emerge.

UK construction has already faced turbulent market conditions over the last year as the initial post-pandemic recovery in UK economic and construction activity dissipated and material and labour supply issues restrained construction activity during 2022. Whilst these pressures will persist during 2023, faltering demand is expected to be a growing constraint upon industry workload.

Supply side disruptions initially fuelled a sharp rise in material costs as the industry emerged from the pandemic. The war in Ukraine drove prices higher with the annual rate peaking at 26.8% in June. The production of many construction products is energy intensive and are among those seeing the sharpest prices rises as gas and electricity costs soared.

Encouragingly prices stabilised somewhat during the second half of last year, helping the annual rate of material price inflation to ease to 15.5% in October. The annual rate should ease further over the coming year, although reduced government support for businesses’ energy costs may feed through to material price inflation.

Firms will continue to face stiff competition to recruit skilled staff this year. The industry’s long-standing labour supply issues intensified during 2022. Fewer EU nationals and the withdrawal of older workers from the labour market have shrunk the potential industry workforce, with the number of vacancies, at 49,000, almost double pre-pandemic levels. Designers and contractors may need to increasingly turn to modular and offsite components to ease their project’s on-site labour requirements.

Alongside these supply side issues, construction activity last year was shaped by both cyclical and structural shifts in demand which will further reshape the pattern of construction workload during 2023.

Demand will constrain overall construction activity during the coming year, with the UK economy in recession and a weakening development pipeline feeding through to a decline in project starts and construction output.

The number and value of project starts weakened during the second half of last year. Whilst there was an increase in major project starts (over £100 million), the value of underlying project starts during the final six months of 2022 were 5% lower than a year earlier and there were also 8% fewer projects started.

Similarly, the development pipeline has weakened, with 14% fewer projects securing detailed planning consent during the final six months of 2022 and the value of underlying detailed planning consents slipping by 5% against a year earlier. The shrinking pipeline is expected to feed through to a further weakening in project starts during 2023.

Private Residential

The UK housing market is slowing as homebuyers’ confidence has been undermined by a drop in real earnings and prospect of higher taxes and mortgage rates. House prices have softened and the number of mortgage approvals in the three months to November was 19% down on a year earlier.
Developers are adjusting their development programmes as market activity cools. Private residential starts weakened during the second half of last year as developers increased their focus on building out projects already on site.

Detailed planning consents also fell back last year, with around 16% fewer projects securing approval and a further decline in project starts is anticipated during 2023.

Private Non-residential

Structural changes in the economy and property demand will drive industrial and commercial sector activity during 2023. Strong demand for logistics space has driven rapid growth in industrial activity, which is expected to remain at a high level during 2023. Commercial starts picked up during the final quarter of 2022. Office refurbishment and fitout projects are expected to remain a growth area this year as landlords and tenants adapt office accommodation to optimise the benefits of hybrid working.
In contrast the weaker economic outlook and the squeeze on household incomes is expected to curb in retail and hotel & leisure facilities during 2023.

Public Sector & Civil Engineering

Promised increases in government capital funding should support a recovery in sector starts during 2023. The value of health project starts rose by an estimated 2% last year and increased NHS funding is expected to maintain sector activity above pre-pandemic levels during 2023.

Although the value of underlying civil engineering starts fell back last year, overall starts jumped by 13% due to a sharp increase in major projects (£100 million or more). These major contracts, including HS2 works and energy projects, will help to underpin civil engineering workload over the coming year.

24 Nov 2019

SS Group of Companies offer various incentive schemes for new home buyers as well as offering the government backed help to buy scheme we also offer a part exchange scheme for your existing home .

You avoid all the stress of trying to sell your house on the market, managing and paying for estate agents, and worrying about house buying chains. It’s straightforward, to make your home move as easy as possible.

The Benefits of Part Exchange : If your home qualifies for Part Exchange, there’s no waiting for months with your house on the market, worrying about whether you will be able to sell. We agree the offer price up front, organise the survey and aim to complete the transaction as soon we can, so you can get on with planning your move.

We’ll offer a fair and realistic price for your property. We’ll instruct a minimum of two independent Agents to value the anticipated selling price of your property.

You won’t have to pay estate agent fees. Moving home is costly enough, without having to worry about estate agents fees as well. From the time you agree a Part Exchange with us, you won’t have to pay estate agents at all.

You won’t have to worry about house buying chains. With Part Exchange, you won’t need to worry about other people pulling out of their purchase or delaying their move. You have a buyer for your home so you can move when your new home is ready!

If you like to find out more regarding this service please contact our buying team on 0121 222 1320

21 Sept 2019

SS Group of Companies and SS Group Uk are backed by the home buying incentive scheme for purchase of any of their new build properties across the Midlands

What is Help to Buy?

With Help to Buy, you could buy a brand-new home sooner than you think.

You only need a 5% deposit.

The Government lends you up to 20% of the value of the property.

The loan is interest-free for 5 years, making your dream home more affordable.

You then need to secure a 75% mortgage.

There are a range of competitive mortgage rates available with this scheme, so it’s worth comparing lenders to find the best deal. We can introduce you to a New Home Mortgage Adviser who’ll search the market to find you a great deal.

Homes that qualify:

Until 2021 the current scheme is available exclusively on new build homes up to the property value of:

£600,000 in England
£300,000 in Wales
£200,000 in Scotland

Who is eligible?

Most people know that Help to Buy is available for first time buyers, but under the current scheme existing homeowners can benefit too.

There are a few important conditions:

*The home you buy must be your only residence.
*The scheme isn’t available for buy-to-let investors.

*The scheme isn’t available to those who will own any other property after completion.If you are interested in saving via this scheme please why not call our mortgage specialists from our lending teams who would be more than happy to help provide information on the saving when buying one of our new homes.