Kier North Tyneside has begun work on a development of 41 new and affordable homes for North Tyneside Council in the heart of Wallsend town.

The scheme will create new jobs and help in the regeneration of the area while providing residents with much-needed homes.

Located on the site of the former Wallsend Police Station and family centre on High Street East, the development is due to be completed in spring 2016.

All the ground floor apartments and houses have been designed to achieve Life Time Home standards—a design code enabling conversion of the home in the future.

The work is part of North Tyneside Council’s ten-year drive to create 3,000 extra affordable homes across the borough and will also contribute to the ongoing regeneration of Wallsend town centre.

Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn said: “This is a milestone project for affordable housing and the regeneration of Wallsend, and we’ve worked closely with the local community to plan this development.

“As demand for housing continues to rise in North Tyneside and many of our residents struggle to secure suitable homes, we are determined to do all we can – by working with our partners and in innovative ways – to create the homes that local people need and want.”

Kier operations director, Jon Rukin, said: “We are proud to be working with North Tyneside on this exciting development; it offers an excellent opportunity to use our expertise from across Kier’s divisions to deliver much-needed new affordable homes in the Wallsend district.

“We have worked closely with the Council to develop high quality, thermally efficient designs, which recreate the traditional terraces of Wallsend and will provide secure and economical places to live for residents.

“We are also looking forward to delivering further projects within the borough as part of the Council’s long-term housing programme.”

There are at least 5,000 individuals or families currently on North Tyneside Council’s housing waiting list, and the authority predicts that it will need to create around 500 new homes each year to keep up with increasing demands.

North Tyneside Council’s drive to create more affordable homes will focus on providing the types of homes that are most in demand, particularly one-bed properties, bungalows and family homes; the work will particularly support those who haven’t got the means to buy or rent a home on the open market.

Deputy Minister for Skills, Julie James has confirmed to start of the Jobs Growth Wales programme and revealed for the successor programme to be in place by next month.

The original Jobs Growth Wales programme was launched in 2012 with a target of creating and filling 12,000 jobs.

The programme has exceeded its targets in every year of operation and has now helped almost 15,000 young people aged 16 – 24 into a job opportunity. This has meant a significant reduction in youth unemployment across Wales.

The Deputy Minister said: “Jobs Growth Wales has been hugely successful, resulting in almost 15,000 young people finding a meaningful job opportunity.

“One of the reasons we have been able to invest so much in the Jobs Growth Wales programme is because it is partly funded by the European union and as such is delivered as a project with a planned start and end date.

“The current EU funded project came to its planned end date on 31st March for new entrants only and we are now in a transition phase.

“We will launch the successor programme next month and I look forward to helping many more young people from across Wales to find meaningful and sustainable employment with the help of Jobs Growth Wales.”

The Welsh Government is currently working with WEFO to progress an application for additional funds for the successor Jobs Growth Wales project under the new European programmes.

The programme has also helped businesses to grow and expand. It is estimated that 8 out of 10 of the jobs created by Jobs Growth Wales have been created in the Private Sector.

The appointment builds on the successful long-term partnership Somerset County Council and Skanska have developed in roads improvement and maintenance operations.

Under the deal, Skanska will be responsible for hard FM (facilities management) services across 500 sites, ranging from council offices, libraries and children’s centres to schools and farms.

It includes mechanical and electrical works, general building maintenance and repairs and minor projects.

The contract started on 1 April. The initial term is two years, with a two year optional extension.

Skanska will work closely with Somerset County Council and their retained management partner, Southwest One, working out of County Hall in Taunton.

The contract will build on Skanska’s presence in Somerset, where it has a team of 150 delivering roads improvements and maintenance work across three separate highways projects.

Katy Dowding, Managing Director of Skanska’s facilities services business, said: “Our presence in Somerset spans almost two decades. Our people live and work here, which provides us with a unique insight to what residents need and the unique demands of the county.

“This understanding, combined with our engineering excellence, quality of service and aligned values will enable us to deliver successfully from day one.

“We are committed to working collaboratively with Somerset County Council and South West One, while using small and medium sized enterprises for at least 25 per cent of our work, helping to support the local economy.

“The contract will lead to the consolidation of hard FM services which will drive consistency and savings, a transition we have successfully delivered on other high-profile projects.”

Developer Canary Wharf Group has been granted full planning permission for 1 Bank Street and outline planning permission for 1 Park Place at Canary Wharf by Tower Hamlets Strategic Planning Committee.

Designed by Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF), 1 Bank Street will be a striking new 700,000 sq ft building with 27 storeys including three levels of state of the art trading floors, a retail unit at ground level, a free-standing retail kiosk on South Dock Promenade.

There will also be public access to a new promenade along the South Dock. Site enabling works commenced earlier this year and construction will begin later in 2015.

Société Générale, one of Europe’s most important banking institutions, has already agreed a lease for 280,000 sq ft of 1 Bank Street.

It will occupy the ground and first to seventh floors on a 25 year lease at a rent of £47.50 per sq ft and 36 months’ rent free commencing from the summer of 2019.

Following a resolution to grant at Strategic Development Committee in 2014, outline planning permission has been granted at 1 Park Place. Consent has been given for an office building comprised of up to just over 1 million sq ft of floorspace.

The Council will now determine a reserved matters application for this office building which is designed by Squires & Partners but there are no immediate plans to develop this site.

Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has granted consent to Corriegarth Wind Farm, in Highland Council Area that will power 33,000 homes.

The development, applied for by NBW Wind Energy Ltd, will have 23 turbines and have a generating capacity of up to 70MW, and effectively replaces the existing planning permission granted by Highland Council for a 50MW, 20 turbine Wind Farm on the same site.

During the construction period, it is envisaged that local and national employers will be encouraged to compete for contracts for the manufacture and supply of turbines, as well as contracts for construction, operation and maintenance work on the wind farm.

Stone for the construction of turbine bases would be locally sourced, creating indirect economic benefit to the local area.

The developer has estimated it will create 245 jobs during the construction phase. During the operational phase, the applicant estimates four to five full time jobs could be created to undertake regular maintenance work.

NBW Wind Energy Ltd has indicated that the community benefit fund will provide approximately £100,000 per annum to support local projects.

Commenting on the granting of consent Mr Ewing said:“The Corriegarth Wind Farm will create a number of jobs, as well as generating power for many thousands of homes and provide considerable benefits to the local community.”

Willmott Dixon‘s private rental company be:here has taken its pipeline of work further to build 650 homes in Barking that will help economic growth and create new jobs.

be:here has agreed to acquire 3.88 acres of the approximately 9 acre Abbey Retail Park site from Estates & Agency Group to develop and manage the purpose built private rented homes, subject to obtaining the relevant planning consent.

The site is located in the heart of Barking on Abbey Road, situated a short walk to Barking’s mainline and London Underground station.

The regeneration of the entire site will create a vibrant new community in Barking and become a key part of the area’s transformation as a place that attracts a new generation of people.

John Rosefield, Estates & Agency Group Chairman, said: “The agreement with be:here is the next stage of realising the vision for the site’s regeneration. Over the next few years there will be transformational change in this area of Barking, creating hundreds of new homes and jobs.”

This latest deal for be:here comes as the first of its 158 purpose-built homes in East India are about to become available for private renters at the Aberfeldy Village development, with over 500 registrations of interest already.

The online letting and management platform that be:here will use as its key interface with tenants, an industry first for the UK PRS market, will go live in the next month.

Each of these developments is tailored at the ever growing number of young professionals who want to live in convenient locations close to central London but are frustrated with the poor quality of service that renters are getting from much of the buy-to-let stock available.

Andrew Telfer, chief executive of Willmott Dixon’s development division, says: “Barking is a key milestone in be:here’s plans to create vibrant rental communities at scale across London and other major cities.

“What’s unique for us is that we will be the long-term operator of the apartments first and foremost, so our presence over many years means we have a keen interest in the success and growth of the wider community in central Barking.”

Social landlords in Scotland will be required to make sure their properties meet high quality energy efficiency and health and safety standards.

Introduced in 2004, the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) now becomes a requirement rather than a target, with social landlords expected to ensure tenants’ homes are energy efficient, free from serious disrepair, have good condition kitchens and bathrooms and meet health and safety guidelines.

Between 2007 and 2015 social landlords invested £3.3 billion in improving housing stock. It is projected that 94 per cent of properties will comply with the Standard by today, with just a small number reporting difficulties in meeting the new requirements.

The Scottish Housing Regulator is responsible for monitoring social landlords’ performance against the Standard through the Charter data collection and taking action where it thinks is necessary.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess welcomed the news on a visit to meet tenants living in Melville Housing Association properties in Dalkeith. She said: “Making sure everyone in Scotland has access to good quality housing is a vital part of the Scottish Government’s drive to secure economic growth, social justice and tackle inequality.

“Over the last 10 years social landlords have invested heavily to improve the conditions of houses with social tenants now living in better quality homes with modern facilities, heating systems and safety features. These achievements show the benefits of a standards-led approach to improving the quality and energy efficiency of social housing.

“Social landlords should be congratulated for this significant progress with homes across Scotland now meeting these conditions, and I am confident this new requirement will ensure even more people are able to live in warmer, safer and drier homes.”

Melville Housing currently owns and manages nearly 2,000 homes and in 2014 invested £1.06 million into meeting the SHQS.

David Bookbinder, Director of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations, said: “The very high rate of SHQS compliance is a huge credit to Scottish housing associations and councils, who’ve ensured that social housing stands above all other tenures in terms of standards of property and service.”

Willmott Dixon has been appointed to build three separate projects worth £27 million that will create 209 new homes in Atherstone, Leamington Spa and Swindon.

In a clear sign of the growing trend to develop bespoke homes for the retirement community, 161 of the 209 homes will be exclusively for people over 55, further enhancing Willmott Dixon‘s track record as one of the country’s largest builders of retirement and care accommodation.

The largest contract is an £11 million project for Warwick District Council for 81 homes in Leamington Spa that comprise of a 76 unit block and five bungalows for people over 55.

The company will also create a further 80 retirement homes for Housing & Care 21 in Atherstone in a contract worth £9 million, further extending Willmott Dixon’s long-term relationship with the UK’s largest non-profit care provider.

Another local authority building homes is Swindon Borough Council, which has appointed Willmott Dixon for a £7 million contract to build 48 affordable homes comprising of 12 apartments and 36 houses. Work on this will be complete in March 2017.

Simon Leadbeater, managing director of Willmott Dixon’s residential construction business in the Midlands, which will deliver the three projects, said: “This is a good sign that local authorities and care providers are continuing to invest significantly in quality new homes that their local communities need.

“Our role alongside the construction expertise we provide is to ensure we involve the local community as much as possible so that they benefit economically from construction work, something we believe in very strongly.”

The housing projects for Warwick District Council and Swindon Borough Council were secured through Scape Group’s Major Works framework.

To work on these and other residential projects, visit here.