Arena Central Developments and HSBC have signed the largest property deal in Birmingham since 2002, paving the way for new jobs and boosting economic growth.

Building work is set start on 2 Arena Central in the summer and will be handed over to HSBC in mid-2017 for occupation from early 2018.

HSBC will forward purchase the 210,000 sq ft 2 Arena Central, which will be the head office of HSBC’s UK ring-fenced bank serving personal and business customers.

Designed by renowned architect Ken Shuttleworth of Make Architects, the building has the capacity to accommodate up to 2,500 people and will be the first in Birmingham to be constructed to LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) Gold accreditation.

Birmingham is already home to more than 2,500 HSBC employees and around 1,000 head office roles will move from London to Birmingham before 1 January 2019.

Situated in the heart of Birmingham’s city centre Enterprise Zone, the 9.2 acre Arena Central site has been masterplanned to deliver over 1million sqft of office lead, mixed use development.

The deal will include the delivery of nearly £10 million of new public realm designed by landscape architects, Gillespies featuring over 50 per cent soft landscaping.

Arena Central is being delivered by ACDL, a joint venture between Miller Developments and Pro Vinci Asset Management.

Phil Miller, Chief Executive Miller Developments, said: “The two teams have worked tirelessly to deliver what is the most significant deal in Birmingham for over a decade and will redefine the westside of Birmingham.

“This is great news for both Birmingham and for Arena Central and builds on the city’s burgeoning reputation as a leading centre for professional and financial services operators. We will continue to work with HSBC throughout the construction of 2 Arena Central to ensure the delivery of a first-class, tailor-made commercial environment.”

Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “This all contributes to Birmingham’s ongoing redevelopment, exemplified through investments such as the £550 million refurbishment of New Street Station, extension to the Midland Metro tram and galvanisation of the city’s network of public and private sector partnerships.”

Galliford Try has announced that its infrastructure business has been appointed as preferred bidder by Scottish Water for its non-infrastructure Quality and Standards IV framework.

The scheme is in joint venture with MWH Treatment and Black & Veatch,

The framework starts immediately and runs for six years. The appointment is anticipated to be worth approximately £560 million to the joint venture called ESD (Efficient Service Delivery).

Works will include design and build projects, both new-build and capital upgrades, for the client’s water and wastewater treatment programme.

Greg Fitzgerald, Executive Chairman of Galliford Try, said: “We are delighted to have secured such a substantial amount of long-term business in a key sector for us.

“We look forward to building on our relationship with Scottish Water and bringing the benefit of our experience of collaboration across the UK water sector to Scottish Water and its customers.”

Galliford Try has announced that its infrastructure business has been appointed as preferred bidder by Scottish Water for its non-infrastructure Quality and Standards IV framework.

The scheme is in joint venture with MWH Treatment and Black & Veatch,

The framework starts immediately and runs for six years. The appointment is anticipated to be worth approximately £560 million to the joint venture called ESD (Efficient Service Delivery).

Works will include design and build projects, both new-build and capital upgrades, for the client’s water and wastewater treatment programme.

Greg Fitzgerald, Executive Chairman of Galliford Try, said: “We are delighted to have secured such a substantial amount of long-term business in a key sector for us.

“We look forward to building on our relationship with Scottish Water and bringing the benefit of our experience of collaboration across the UK water sector to Scottish Water and its customers.”

One of the country’s largest social landlords has unveiled a 50,000-home building plan that will create thousands of construction jobs and boost the trades.

L&Q launches a landmark five-year drive which backs the housing association’s charitable objectives and commits to the delivery of 50,000 new homes.

L&Q 2020 sets out how L&Q will tackle the housing crisis head on by increasing output to 5,000 new homes a year and trebling its pipeline to 50,000 over the next decade.

This is the most ambitious development programme ever undertaken by a housing association.

The plan reaffirms L&Q social mission of creating places where people want to live, and outlines a vision that everyone should have a safe, warm, quality and affordable home.

L&Q Group Chief Executive David Montague said: “The chronic lack of quality, affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges facing Britain today. For far too long, supply has fallen woefully short of demand and so we are making a step change in our development programme.

“L&Q has always had the desire to create more homes, and now our financial strength gives us the capability to embark on the largest house-building programme in housing association history.

“Crucially, L&Q 2020 spells out how this growth will be achieved alongside an excellent customer experience. It’s not a case of one or the other – growth and service delivery go hand in hand.”

Mr Montague added: “This bold plan will stretch us, but we have achieved extraordinary things before and we are determined to do so again. In 50 years’ time we will still recognise ourselves as a charitable housing association, and I hope we will be well on the way to achieving our vision that everyone should have a safe, warm, quality and affordable home.”

The Persimmon Homes East Scotland region has started building at its new 20-acre housing development in South Gyle, Edinburgh, that will create new jobs and boost the trades.

The £24 million development named Station Mews is located at the historic St Augustine’s School site and will provide 204 properties.

The site will feature a mix of homes to suit a range of buyers, offering a stylish collection of two, three, four and five bedroom homes along with a range of two bedroom apartments.

The development launched at the end of March with the first homes to be completed in November 2015. Jim Kirkpatrick, managing director for Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to get construction under-way and address the known demand for our quality new homes in the central Edinburgh area.

“We’re confident that the range of properties on offer will meet the needs of the local housing market and appeal to families just starting out as well as those looking to move to a bigger home with more space.

“Buying a new home is now more affordable and straightforward than ever thanks to a range of buying incentives including the Government-backed

Liverpool Mutual Homes has awarded a £200 million repairs and maintenance contract to its contracting division HMS that will carry out work on 15,000 homes for the next four years.

The contract will see HMS provide a maximum of 75 per cent of all of our repairs and maintenance work with the remaining 25 per cent going out to tender to other contractors.

Chief Executive at Liverpool Mutual Homes, Steve Coffey, said: “This structure gives us the best of both worlds, enabling us to deliver the highest quality services for tenants at very low risk and always achieving a market price.

“It means work can be carried out quicker, we can build a closer relationship with one predominant contractor and tenants will become accustomed to knowing what HMS is, does and stands for.

“We are delighted this work was won by HMS as not only does it provide LMH with very competitive rates but we can also reinvest the profits it makes into our social dividend which is a fund that supports initiatives that address deprivation, promote inclusion and support communities.

“This profit – £3.4 million in 2013/14 – would otherwise be lost to tenants if we chose an independent contractor.

“The works which are not carried out by HMS will see us go out to tender so we are competitive and it keeps us in touch with market values.”

Managing Director at HMS, Paul Worthington, said: “Winning a contract of this magnitude reflects the position and capacity of the company.

“A four year contract gives us the opportunity to plan and deliver co-ordinated services.

“We have a strong foundation having provided a consistently high standard of maintenance for LMH over the past year and now we can focus on streamlining our services to meet the demands of tenants even better.”

The contract includes investment projects that will see HMS provide environmental works and refurbishments of empty homes.

Persimmon Homes has started work on a major project near Northampton to create a new community.

Persimmon Homes Midlands will be building new homes at Harlestone Manor on the outskirts of the town, between New Duston and the village of Harlestone.

Sales director Suzanne Irons said “We believe Harlestone Manor will be popular because of its location as it will provide semi-rural living at its very best.

“It is ideal for first-time buyers, families and couples and we are urging buyers to hurry once the development is launched due to the amount of interest already being shown.”

The development is located next to Harlestone Firs, beautiful woodland which is already a favourite for walkers, joggers and mountain bikers. However, the site also has excellent road and rail links, with Northampton train station less than a mile away.

Suzanne added: “Harlestone Manor really will offer the best of both worlds, where residents can choose to step into a traditional, rural lifestyle or enjoy the many modern attractions, shops and leisure facilities nearby.

“Anyone buying off-plan will obviously have their pick of the plots and more of a say on the fixtures and fittings. And with schemes such as the Government-backed Help to Buy, it has never been a better time to buy a new-build home.”

Willmott Dixon has a £26 million contract to build a landmark academic ‘hub’ building for the University of Kent in Canterbury.

It’s the latest in a series of major projects the company is responsible for delivering in the higher education sector, following similar facilities for universities that include Cambridge, Bournemouth, Birmingham City, West London and Brighton with a combined value of over £200 million.

Willmott Dixon’s project for the University of Kent will provide a new four-storey learning hub that will be home to the Kent Business School and the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science.

By bringing together academics, students, researchers and administrative staff from these schools into a modern new facility, the hub will give the university approximately 8,000m2 of state-of-the-art space that will help attract the best people in the competitive higher education sector.

Willmott Dixon’s Kent based local team will start shortly, with work completed by the end of 2016. Also on the scheme are project manager BNP Paribas Real Estate, architect Penoyre and Prasad, M&E provider Max Fordham, structural engineer Price & Myers plus Betteridge & Milsom as QS.

Roger Forsdyke, managing director for Willmott Dixon in the Southern Home Counties: “This hub will give each of the departments their own distinct learning area that will attract students and academics keen to develop their knowledge and research using these high-tech facilities.

“Importantly, we’ll be bringing our experience of higher education and working in live environments on major hub projects to ensure we create a centrepiece that will provide an excellent learning environment for many generations to come.”

Muse Developments has submitted planning applications for a major Brixton town centre redevelopment called ‘Your New Town Hall’.

The project will provide around 600 new jobs including 35 apprenticeships and work placements.

The applications follow twelve months of design work and two stages of public consultation in summer and winter 2014.

The planning applications, for ‘The Triangle’ and ‘Olive Morris House’ sites facing onto Brixton Hill, are part of a project which will ultimately reduce Lambeth Council’s core office buildings from 14 to 2, saving taxpayers at least £4.5million a year.

Following a successful selection process, Muse signed an agreement with Lambeth Council in April 2014 to deliver the project.

Thomasin Renshaw, development director at Muse Developments, said: “The decision to dispose of ageing and expensive buildings the Council no longer needs, and use the proceeds to bring much-needed new homes and jobs to the borough demonstrates Lambeth’s common-sense approach to development.

“The project includes an exciting refurbishment of the Town Hall to enable more community use, and new fit-for-purpose offices that will improve services for residents.”

Proposals are for the redevelopment of the Town Hall Parade, Hambrook House and Olive Morris House along with the refurbishment of Ivor House and the Town Hall to deliver 194 new homes including 40% affordable housing.

The Aylesbury estate regeneration has been given the go-ahead, building 3,500 homes and creating new jobs in the construction trades.

The regeneration of the Aylesbury estate took a huge step forward after planning permission was granted by Southwark Council this month.

Two separate applications were given the go-ahead, one for the first development site to the south-west of the estate, bordering Burgess Park, and one for the outline masterplan for the remainder.

Throughout the planning process, those who know the area best – the residents, Creation Trust and Southwark Council – have been instrumental in developing the plans.

Kate Davies, Chief Executive of Notting Hill Housing, said: “Everybody at Notting Hill housing is thrilled that we have been granted planning permission for the Aylesbury estate project.

“The Council, local residents, the Creation Trust and our staff team on the ground have all worked terribly hard in order to get us to this milestone. It has taken a lot of trust, understanding, collaboration, and vision to get here. We are very excited that redevelopment can now commence.”

The first development site will see 830 homes built, including specialist housing for older people and homes for people with learning disabilities, as well as a community facility and extensive new public open space including two new parks.

Phases two, three and four of the regeneration come under the outline masterplan permission. This will see 2,745 homes built, as well as the creation of office space, retail units, a new public square with a health centre and early years care, and more public open space, such as pocket parks and playgrounds.

Of the new homes, 50 per cent will be affordable homes, of which 75 per cent will be available at target rents for the next 250 years. The remaining 25 per cent will be for shared ownership or shared equity.