Fisher German’s Canterbury office has been re-appointed by National Grid to continue working on the Richborough Connection Project, a major infrastructure project in east Kent. 

The project includes the construction of 20km of electricity pylons and required substation infrastructure, forming a new 400kV overhead line between Richborough and Canterbury.  Fisher German has assisted National Grid with the planning process, including land referencing, consultation and securing the consent.  The new instruction covers the construction phase, including the delivery of land rights and negotiating compensation for the impact of construction works, along with related modifications to the local electricity distribution network for UK Power Networks, also a Fisher German client.

The Development Consent Order (DCO) for the project is a significant landmark, as this is National Grid’s first major overhead line project to start construction under a DCO, the new process introduced by the Planning Act 2008 dealing with nationally significant infrastructure projects.

Once built, the new line will connect Nemo Link – undersea electricity cables between Herdersbrug in Belgium and Ramsgate in Kent – to National Grid’s high voltage electricity network.  The new line is due to be energised in late Autumn 2018.  It is intended to integrate the UK into a single European electricity market via existing and proposed interconnectors, allowing the trading of power via undersea cables and ensuring that the UK has a safe, reliable and secure electricity supply.

James Ingram, who has been involved in the project since initial landowner meetings took place in late 2013, said: “We are delighted to have our instruction renewed, having worked with the National Grid team for four years through the planning phase, during which we used our expertise to help conduct the consultation process, secure land access, arrange agreements with landowners and represent the project in planning hearings.  We were extremely pleased to be able to contribute to securing this major DCO, which was consented in August, and to see construction start in October.

“We are involved with a number of projects throughout the UK where we work with clients to meet the challenges associated with replacing and reinforcing the energy infrastructure to ensure security of supply of energy through existing cable and pipeline apparatus, new interconnectors, oil and gas storage, and potential renewable and sustainable resources. We are also working with another developer to secure land rights for an interconnector, ElecLink, which is proposed to run through the Channel Tunnel.   

“We now look forward to working with National Grid on the construction phase of the project.”

for further information contact James Ingram on 01227 477974 or email here

If you’re involved in agency, you will undoubtedly  have been asked the question “How is the market doing?” Our answer would be: “Far better than it should be, at least in our experience”

Brexit uncertainty, interest rate rises, inflationary pressure; conventional wisdom dictates that the housing market must be on its knees. This is not the case.

True, transactional volume has been down this year, but we have performed strongly in all the markets in which we operate.

Rising house prices and more stringent lending criteria may have challenged first time buyers, but we have seen a real determination to get on the housing ladder. The Chancellor’s budgetary announcement of shelving SDLT for those purchasing their first property will go some way to alleviate the pressure. Looking forward, this improved fluidity will translate to more activity further up the market. The buy-to-let sector has been affected by a more rigorous tax regime but people are still investing, considering this to remain a safe bet. We know that household incomes are being squeezed by rising inflation, but perhaps housing is a question of priorities and many people are making their next move a priority.

The residential property market runs on sentiment. People entering the market will read the reports, ask for advice but the decision is often emotion led; people usually do what feels right. If they want to get on and move, and they can afford to do so, then they will. Their perceived ability to be able to afford to move will probably depend to a great extent on how financially confident they feel.

Financial confidence may seem a tall order in an environment dominated by political rumination about the potential negative or positive implications of Brexit for the UK. However a small, but determined group of people do feel sufficiently confident. There are fewer houses on the market, but those who are on the market are genuine sellers, and the price that they can ask is bolstered the lower supply. Buyers are mostly genuine buyers, prepared to pay a sensible (but rarely over-inflated) price for a good house. At this stage in our financial year we are considerably ahead of where we were last year – and last year was a thoroughly good performance.

There is no doubt that Fisher German have taken a larger share of a smaller market, no doubt that we have worked really hard to identify genuine purchasers, no doubt that matching genuine purchasers to genuine sellers has helped our reputation as trusted advisors to grow and develop. We have excellent knowledge of this market and we know how to make things happen. We understand property and we understand our clients. A powerful message if you are thinking of selling your house. 

For further information contact Alasdair Dunne on 07501 720412 or email here

Housing supply is at its highest level for a decade according to figures recently published by the Home Builders Federation 'HBF'. During the last 12 months, more than 217,000 new homes were created - up from 186,000 the previous year. 

This is an increase of 74% in the past four years to a level that is the second highest number of homes provided this century and the third highest since the 1970s.  New build homes accounted for 184,000 of the overall total, a 55% increase in the past four years. 

With the focus on housing these figures indicate that Government policies and incentives are starting to have the desired effect - and that commitment to easing the housing crisis and the chronic under supply across the UK remained a priority at the recent Budget where the Chancellor outlined a target for the country to be building 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020's.

The objectives set out in the Housing white paper: Fixing our broken housing market are still a priority to assist in meeting the housing need. To plan properly so the right houses are built in the right places; speeding up the rate of build out; creating diversity in the housing market, at present 60% of new homes are built by just 10 companies, the Government’s wish is to encourage and stimulate delivery by small and medium sized house building companies.

In recent weeks we have also seen Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, writing to 15 Local Councils including North East Derbyshire, St Albans and Wirral Council’s threatening intervention where they are not making sufficient progress in producing or reviewing their Local Plans, stating his intention for the Government to intervene.

At this stage authorities have been asked to outline 'any exceptional circumstances' to justify their failure to produce a plan as well as any measures to speed up its publication.

This latest announcement of intervention is one of a number of measures intended to speed up the delivery of more housing through placing pressure on the Local Plan making process however, it is unclear how the government intends to intervene.

There is no silver bullet or single policy that will generate an increase in supply to the target of 300,000 homes a year, collectively the policies adopted to date have enabled output to grow and we should expect the same moving forward.

For further information contact Luke Brafield on 01530 567472 or email here

Bywell wins gold at the Purdey Awards

On Thursday 23 November, it was announced that the Bywell shoot on the Allendale Estate in Northumberland had been awarded, the UK’s leading award for Game and Wildlife Conservation; the Gold Award for Wildlife and Conservation at the Purdey Awards in London.

The awards which are held annually aim to promote a wider understanding of the conservation benefits conferred on the countryside by shooting and game management, and to give recognition to those who work in this field.

The award was presented by Countryfile’s Adam Henson and the Duke of Wellington at Purdeys in London and was received by Viscount Allendale, Wentworth Beaumont and Bywell’s gamekeeper, Alan Edwards.

The Bywell project which was described by the judges as “truly outstanding in nurturing a myriad of wildlife”, was started five years ago with the aim of producing a sustainable stock of English (Grey) Partridges and wild pheasants. However, it has also resulted in a dramatic increase of other wildlife including threatened species such as Lapwing and Curlew.

Fisher German partner Holly Parry, consultant to Allendale Estates said “this is a great accolade, we are delighted that the Estate’s conservation efforts have been recognised on the national stage. Bywell has been transformed into a renowned wild bird estate.”

For further information contact Holly Parry on 07501 720416 or email here