RESERVE A TWO-BEDROOM HOME AT PENNYWELL LIVING, EDINBURGH We have just two remaining two-bedroom mid terraced houses available at Pennywell Living. Priced at £230,000 these homes are built to exacting standards. Our latest release provides a modern, attractive home that read more
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Last Remaining One-Bedroom Apartment at Pennywell Living! ‘The Ross’ at Pennywell Living in Edinburgh is the last remaining one-bedroom apartment in the latest release. Priced at £144,000, you can reserve this apartment before the end of February for just £9 read more
Mortgage Affordability Set to Improve
Over the last few years, one of the biggest barriers to home ownership has been mortgage affordability. The good news is that the Bank of England have announced that they are consulting on plans to make affordability checks less stringent.
This year, the Bank of England will consult to scrap the current rules which requires mortgage applicants on all types of mortgages to prove that they can pay their lender’s higher standard variable rate mortgage plus 3% on top.
This has prevented many people who are able to afford the mortgage they are applying for from being given an offer, blocking their ability to purchase a home.
Despite this, the Bank of England has rejected calls to allow lenders to increase the number of mortgages they offer whereby people need to borrow in excess of 4.5 times their salary. Some lenders are, however, making moves to offer mortgages up to 7 times their applicants’ salary.
Last year, Nationwide was one of the lenders that offered a mortgage loan-to-income ratio to 5.5 although this deal is limited to just 5,000 households. Other lenders have followed suit and announced that they will offer more of these mortgages to professional applicants including firefighters, police officers, NHS clinicians, teachers in the public sector.
Urban Union
If you are looking for your first home, we have a range of suitable properties for sale at Pollokshaws Living, Pennywell Living and Laurieston Living and at present, you can reserve for just £99 until the end of February. Contact us to find out more or contact each of our Developments at:
Pennywell Living
Pennywell Road, Edinburgh, EH4 4NL
T. 07940 992182
E. pennywellliving@urbanunionltd.co.uk
Pollokshaws Living
Pollokshaws, Glasgow
G43 1LY
T. 07498 057112
E. pollokshawsliving@urbanunionltd.co.uk
Our Marketing Suite is open Thursday to Monday 11am to 4pm.
Laurieston Living
Off Bedford Street, Glasgow, G5 9LQ
T. 07498 057114
E. lauriestonliving@urbanunionltd.co.uk
The Benefits of an Urban Union Home
When you buy an Urban Union home you aren’t just buying a property. You’ll be buying into a lifestyle, establishing your place in a vibrant community, and you’ll be buying a well-built future-proofed home.
We work with architects who have an ongoing commitment to creating high quality, crafted architecture, public realm and landscape that is embedded and connected to its local and wider context. We ensure that our regeneration projects benefit the local landscape and community, so our sites feature green spaces and a mix of accommodation, with potential for commercial opportunities and retail outlets.
Energy efficiency
A newly built home is much more energy efficient than older properties making them a lot cheaper to run. With inflation and utilities bills on the rise and the price cap on energy set to go up over the coming months, this is high on buyers’ agendas.
Following COP26 last year, climate change is at the forefront of our minds. Home energy efficiency is a huge part of how we need to deal with this collectively but the good news is that new homes are built with energy efficiency in mind and are constructed to a higher standard than in previous years. They must adhere to minimum standards when it comes to energy efficiency, leading to lower household carbon footprints and lower energy bills. Urban Union homes are built with materials that are highly energy efficient including the windows, insulation, doors and appliances.
At Pollokshaws Living, our high quality one and two bedroom apartments that are currently available for sale are equipped with all the features for a great quality of life and enable you to keep your energy bills to a minimum. Unlike with the purchase of an existing property, windows and doors won’t need to be replaced for many years and you can rest assured that the property is incredibly well insulated. Your new home will have a building warranty, which will safeguard you against large repair payments which are typical of older properties.
High quality fixtures and fittings
In addition, you’ll be able to have a say in the interiors, fixtures and fittings when making an early bird reservation.
At Laurieston Living, Pollokshaws Living and Pennwyell Living, our high quality one, two, three, four and five-bedroom properties are located within a thriving community and benefit from our trademark features of high ceilings, long windows and great storage. What’s more, every home comes equipped with all the features necessary for modern life, including well-finished, fully integrated kitchens, plenty of storage space and airy living areas, suitable for a wide range of buyers. But what are the other benefits of a newly built home?
Your new home will also have the most up-to-date standards on safety and security incorporated. Materials must be fire-resistant with detectors fitted for you. In addition, the overall designs are also built with fire safety and evacuation in mind. Security is often standard too, giving both peace of mind as well as helping to bring down home, building and contents insurance fees.
Community engagement
Community engagement is at the heart of our plans and our aim is to build relationships with the local communities to ensure the homes we build are to the benefit of the people of the cities in which we have developments.
Various jobs are created during the construction phase of the project, with Urban Union committed to providing employment opportunities for local people. We have successfully delivered hundreds of homes at our developments and are putting that award-winning experience to good use as we support ongoing regeneration.
Pollokshaws Living
We currently have four remaining one-bedroom homes at Pollokshaws Living available to reserve for just £99 and have just launched a range of 2-bedroom apartments. This latest release of 24 two-bedroom apartments available are priced from £178,995. Find out more about our latest release of 2-bedroom apartments.
We have just four one-bedroom apartments left in this final release of properties for the current phase, at our newest Glasgow development, Pollokshaws Living.
The following apartments are currently available:
Plot 25: The Stewart a one-bedroom ground floor apartment priced at £160,995
Plot 28: The Stewart a one-bedroom first floor apartment priced at £161,995
Plot 31: The Stewart a one-bedroom second floor apartment priced at £162,995
Plot 34: The Stewart a one-bedroom third floor apartment priced at £163,995
Keep your home warm!
According to PlumbNation we should wait until the clocks go back on October 31st to put our heating on – but in Scotland that just isn’t feasible. As winter sets in and we are spending more time at home – especially with working from home set to continue for several months. Therefore, it’s important that we keep our homes warm whilst keeping our energy bills down given how much energy costs have risen in the last year.
As we use our heating systems, tumble dryers, heated blankets and keep our lights on for longer, here are some tips to keep your home warm.
Duvet tog and soft furnishings
Many people use the same duvet all year-round and don’t consider a heavier weight tog for the colder months. To stay warm in bed at night, choose a 13.5 tog or higher in the winter months and around 10 tog in the summer. In addition, consider lots of layers with throws and blankets in different textures – not only will these keep you warm, they will also give your bedroom a chic style especially when using fabrics such as velvet and fur and deep sumptuous colours.
Mattress
There are mattresses available that can regulate your body temperature with intelligent temperature regulating technology such as elite gel memory foam – helping you to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This can help you to get a great night’s sleep without having to leave the heating on during the night.
Windows
Blinds and curtains can keep the heat in and the cold out as well as looking great! Make sure that your curtains are lined, and black out curtains are often a heavier weight and have more heat insulation. You could also choose wood blinds, but these often only run to the edge of the window and don’t provide as much insulation.
It is estimated that your windows could cause up to 40% of your energy to escape which can be costly. New windows are highly energy efficient and will save you money in the long run.
Heating
Check the temperature your heating is set to – if it’s too high you’ll get too hot, leading to turning the heating down and finding the house gets too cold. This change in temperature will cost more than keeping it at a steady lower temperature of around 21 degrees whilst keeping you warm and comfortable. A smart system can also be used to turn off the heating if you are staying out as it will work remotely via your phone and lowering your energy consumption.
Never hang clothes on a radiator as this can prevent air circulation and take longer for your home to warm up increasing your energy consumption. In addition, make sure your furniture isn’t pushed up against radiators.
Buy new
If you’re looking for a new home – you could save a lot of money by buying a new energy efficient home.
By investing in a new, highly efficient home, your utility bills will be kept at a minimum. All newly built homes are highly energy efficient and will save you a huge amount on your bills compared to an older property.
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Zero-carbon COP26 House opens its doors to the public
— Public invited to Beyond Zero Homes building to see how a zero carbon, circular design can be achieved with materials and skills readily available today —
COP26 House, which demonstrates how beautiful, affordable homes can help meet global climate change ambitions, will open its doors to the public for two weeks only from Monday, 1 November.
Built by Glasgow-based regeneration specialists Urban Union for the UN Climate Change Conference, the zero-carbon timber-frame building was developed by Beyond Zero Homes. Created and led by Peter Smith of Roderick James Architects, Beyond Zero Homes is a collaborative group of over 20 organisations from across the home building sector who want to show the world how affordable and desirable homes can be constructed with minimal impact on the environment, using standard materials and skills available today.
As well as having a reduced reliance on concrete and steel, the COP26 House has been built mainly using locally-sourced home-grown timber provided by the BSW Group, the UK’s largest integrated forestry business, and natural materials provided by the different organisations that make up Beyond Zero Homes.
It has been designed to store more carbon than is produced during its construction and will only require heating in the coldest times of the year due to the high levels of insulation. Heating, when required, will be provided by infra-red panels which heat objects and people directly, rather than heating the air. This low-cost electric solution is also almost entirely recyclable at the end of its lifecycle.
Unlike the materials used in standard homes today which are either incinerated or sent to landfill at the end of their life, the COP26 House has been designed so that it can be completely dismantled and recycled. This will be demonstrated after COP26 when the house will be deconstructed and rebuilt as part of a development of affordable homes near Aviemore.
During COP26, the house will be located on the Broomielaw, just a short walk from the Scottish Event Campus. As well as hosting private events and tours for school groups, COP26 House will be open to the public at various points throughout the two-week period. More information can be found on the Sustainable Glasgow Landing website.
Peter Smith, Roderick James Architects, said: “It is vital that the houses we are building now are truly sustainable, being low carbon in construction and use. But with the COP26 house, I wanted to demonstrate that truly sustainable, ecologically responsible buildings can also be beautiful, comfortable to live in and low cost to build using locally-sourced materials.”
Pupils from a number of primary schools in Glasgow and Edinburgh have been invited for guided tours of COP26 House hosted by Urban Union. As well as learning about the materials and technologies used in construction, the school children will have the opportunity to enter a competition to design their dream home using recycled materials. Entries will be judged by representatives from Beyond Zero Homes.
Neil McKay, Managing Director of Urban Union which is part of the Robertson Group, said: “The construction industry has a central role to play in helping to reduce the world’s carbon emissions and the COP26 House demonstrates that many of the solutions needed to fight climate change already exist, we just need to put them into practice.
“Everyone wants a comfortable home and by building the COP26 House we’ve shown they can have that while protecting the environment at the same time. Together with our Beyond Zero Homes partners, we want to welcome as many people as possible to the house so they can see this for themselves. And school visits will play a part in hopefully inspiring the next generation of architects and construction workers needed to help our industry achieve its sustainability ambitions.”
Tony Hackney, CEO, from BSW Group, the UK’s largest integrated forestry business which provided home-grown UK timber for the build, said: “The COP26 House is an important milestone in the move towards mainstream use of home-grown timber in the housebuilding sector. This will reduce transport miles and carbon emissions while supporting local sawmillers and growers. The UK timber sector is worth over £10 billion to the economy, providing thousands of jobs across the country in forestry, sawmills, high-tech manufacturers, merchants, and housebuilding.”
The COP26 house is a one-bedroom unit with mezzanine studio, with an internal floor area of 70m2. The estimated guide price to build a home like this is between £1,800 per square metre for self-build and up to £2,500 per square metre, dependent on size, location, builder, and final finish specification.
The members of Beyond Zero Homes who worked together to build COP26 House include Roderick James Architects, Home Grown Homes, BSW, Robertson Group, Urban Union, MEDITE SMARTPLY, NorDan, National Timber Group, STEICO, Herschel Infrared, Fakro, Paul Heat Recovery, RothoBlaas, Ultimate Insulation, Ecomerchant, Circular Ecology, David Narro Associates, Roddy Clarke, IES, Radiator Digital, Orluna, Rainclear, Glenalmond Timber and Scottish Forestry.
Find out more about COP26 House.
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