Newsbriefs

Citation

(2012), "Newsbriefs", Structural Survey, Vol. 30 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.2012.11030daa.002

Newsbriefs

Newsbriefs

Article Type: Newsbriefs From: Structural Survey, Volume 30, Issue 4.

Ska rating for retail and restaurants launched

Keywords: Environment, Refurbishment, Restaurants, Shops, Sustainability

RICS has launched a fit-out assessment for shops and restaurants to reduce their environmental impact, set standards, and benchmark and improve their sustainability best practices. Building on the success of the original office fit-out version launched in 2009, Ska is an award-winning standard assessment method that will allow retailers and restaurant operators to measure the environmental impact of their fit-outs and refurbishments, and set benchmarks for improvements. The launch follows the successful completion of pilot projects for Lush in Birmingham and Bristol, Wahaca at Bluewater Shopping Centre, and Nationwide Building Society in Oxford. Clients using the rating on office projects have found that the rating has helped engage employees in the process and strengthen their brand image, and that there have been financial benefits – reductions in energy costs of up to 31 per cent and reductions of waste sent to landfill of up to 99 per cent.

Changes to the energy performance certificate (EPC) requirements

Keywords: Certification, Energy, Environment, Marketing

Significant changes in the requirements for delivering EPCs came into effect in the UK from 6 April 2012. The key change is the requirement to include the full first page of the EPC in all particulars for the sale or letting of all properties, residential and commercial. It is no longer sufficient to simply include the rating graph within the body of the particulars.

Impact of fire safety legislation

Keywords: Fire, Hotels, Legislation, Prosecution

Two recent prosecutions under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 following fires in hotels highlight the need for managers and fire risk assessors to ensure adequate fire safety measures are installed in these types of premises. In February, a London hotel and its manager paid more than £260,000 in fines and costs in, what is believed to be the first jury trial of a case under the legislation. The offences dated back to a fire on 18 May 2008, from which three people narrowly escaped, two by using the stairs and a third by climbing out of a second floor window. The defendants were found to have failed to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and they did not provide staff with adequate safety training. They were also found to have failed to ensure emergency routes from the premises were kept clear and had not equipped the premises with fire detectors or adequately maintained equipment. In a similar case in July 2011, an external fire risk assessor and a hotel manager were prosecuted and jailed for eight months for fire safety offences relating to two hotel premises in Mansfield.

Commercial buildings cavity wall insulation (CWI) guarantee scheme

Keywords: Commercial buildings, Insulation, Guarantee, Walls

The Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency (CIGA) has launched a guarantee to provide owners of commercial buildings with 25-year cover for CWI. The CIGA 25-year guarantee was previously only available for domestic properties but under a pilot project guarantees will now be available for qualifying traditionally constructed commercial premises. With an increasing focus on energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions as a result of schemes such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment, building insulation measures are now becoming a priority for commercial property owners. Once fully launched this scheme means businesses will be able to take advantage of the established 25-year CIGA guarantee to cover CWI in the same way that five million householders throughout the UK have been protected since 1995. The commercial building CIGA guarantee will be available for qualifying buildings where the work is completed by a registered installer in accordance with technical guidance issued by CIGA.

Professional and ethical standards

Keywords: Ethics, Globalisation, Standards, Surveyors

Behaving ethically goes to the heart of what it means to be a professional and is what distinguishes professionals from others in the marketplace. It is also a changing landscape given the globalisation of the surveying profession. What is acceptable behaviour now may not be in the future and of course cultural differences in different parts of the world have an impact. So it is sensible for all professions to review, from time to time, the kinds of behaviour expected of members. This is particularly true for RICS members given the global nature of RICS membership. RICS's global framework for professional and ethical standards has been overhauled to articulate five standards. All members must demonstrate that they: act with integrity, always provide a high standard of service, act in a way that promotes trust in the profession, treat others with respect, and take responsibility.

UK economy set to remain flat in the near term

Keywords: Economy, Construction, Housing, Real estate

RICS reports that recent news flow on the UK economy has been particularly challenging. Not only was the estimate of the contraction in the economy in the first quarter of 2012 revised down to 0.3 per cent but the worsening crisis in the Euro area has raised real concerns about whether it is right to expect very much of an improvement in the near term. This prompted the Bank of England to lower its full year forecast for growth to 0.8 per cent. A helpful development was the drop in inflation to 3 per cent taking it to its lowest level since the early part of 2010. Data from the real estate sector are consistent with the need for further stimulus. Official numbers suggest construction output may have fallen by nearly 5 per cent in the first three months of the year. Meanwhile, the embryonic recovery in activity in the residential sales market appears to be running out of steam in the wake of the expiry of the stamp duty holiday, the increase in some mortgage rates and rising economic uncertainty. Figures from the British Bankers’ Association show that volumes of mortgages approved dropped to 97,000 in the three months to April compared to almost 109,000 in the preceding three-month period.

Removal of zero VAT on alterations to listed buildings

Keywords: Heritage, Refurbishment, Taxation

The budget has seen the announcement that the zero rate of VAT on alterations to listed buildings will be removed in the UK. RICS UK Head of External Affairs, Stephen Thornton, has said “Lower VAT on historic buildings than on new builds would encourage the improvement of existing stock and this increase will create further barriers to the improvement of this stock and stifle job creation. Instead, an incentive to improve our highly valued heritage has been removed. The chancellor has missed a golden opportunity to create a level playing field of 5% VAT on all home repair, maintenance and improvement work”. The government has made some significant U-turns on their original budget proposals but there is no sign of any change of mind on this contentious property issue.

NewBuy scheme to help deliver more homes

Keywords: Homes, Initiative, New-build, Mortgages

The NewBuy initiative has been introduced in the UK in an attempt to stimulate new house building. Effectively, it is designed to provide home buyers with the opportunity to access a mortgage to purchase a new-build property with a loan-to-value ratio of up to 95 per cent (or a deposit as low as 5 per cent). Early indications are that despite what appears an attractive proposition, the scheme has got off to a relatively sluggish start with some lenders reluctant to participate in the programme and, those that are involved, pricing loans relatively dearly. Meanwhile, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has highlighted the challenges involved in implementing NewBuy in such a short space of time. It is, of course, still early days for the scheme and some house builders are still using other products as their primary sales incentive. This will change over the coming months which should provide a better opportunity to gauge the likely effectiveness of the initiative designed to help up to 100,000 new entrants into the market.