Freeview HD reaches 50% of the UK

Freeview HD has now reached 50% of its target UK coverage according to Ofcom. The coverage has risen by 43% in the last 6 months.

As of the June 10th, Freeview HD is available to homes in Birmingham, Manchester, London, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool and the majority of Wales. Households in these areas will be able to watch the World Cup via ITV1 HD and BBC HD. However going by ITV's catastrophic HD coverage of the first England game maybe this isn't such a great thing. Those watching England vs USA on Friday 11th June via ITV1 HD missed the England goal following technical issues, I being one of them!

Following the World Cup, Freeview HD will continue to roll out in-line with the digital switchover towards the target of 98.5% availability throughout Britain by the end of 2012.

£150m scheme under threat as developers go into administration

A £150 million development scheme near Digbeth Coach Station is under threat after developer Connaught Square Ltd went into administration. Development backers Allied Irish Bank withdrew funding for the scheme causing Connaught to collapse into administration.

The development would have included 658 new apartments, a hotel, shops, offices, bars, restaurants and 1,000 underground car parking spaces.

The development was scheduled to be completed by 2011.

QE super hospital opens

The new £2.6 billion Queen Elizabeth super hospital has opened in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

6,900 staff will treat around 650,000 patients a year as the hospital replaces two hospitals. The QE will include Europe's largest organ transplant programme and the largest critical care unit treating trauma, burns, plastics, brain conditions and cancer. The new super hospital has strong links with the Cancer Research UK Centre and Cure Leukaemia as it bids to become one of the first centres in the UK to deliver a new cancer treatment called Proton Therapy.

Shard End Crescent to be revived

Stoford Retail and Barratt Homes are joining forces to revive the old Shard End shopping parade in Birmingham.

The £43 million transformation will see 191 new houses and apartments, shops, The Shard and a new library to create a state of the art urban village centre.

Building on the estate is due to begin later this year.

Plans to build new homes on green belt scrapped

Plans to build 400,000 new homes that threatened green belt land in the Birmingham area have been scrapped.

The Government is to scrap the Regional Spatial Strategy, which ordered local councils to build nearly 400,000 new homes by 2026, some in the West Midlands. This included 57,500 new homes Birmingham and 10,500 in Solihull.

Chris Crean, of Friends of the Earth, said: “While the Regional Spatial Strategy had its critics, it was a way of creating a long-term strategy for housing. Ripping it up without anything to replace it will lead to chaos. If these homes are needed, where are they going to go?"

Royal seal of approval for housing development in Northfield

HRH the Duke of Gloucester gave the new £25 million housing development in Northfield the royal seal of approval last Wednesday (9th June) when it was officially opened.

The development includes 167 two, three, four and five bedroom houses as well as two bedroom flats for sale and to rent.

A £6.6 million grant from The Homes and Communities Agency helped pay for the revamp of the new complex in Lower Shenley which includes a new community hall, equipped with OFSTED approved before and after school care, arts and craft areas, a youth centre, recording studio and an IT suite.

Kier Partnership Homes are the contracted builders behind the development.

Crest Nicholson invite you to Park Central this evening

First time buyers are invited to visit Park Central in the city centre this evening where new homes developer Crest Nicholson will be introducing the next generation of homeowners to the government backed scheme HomeBuy Direct. The scheme can help Park Central buyers purchase new homes Birmingham from the Liberty phase of the development from just £63,000.

Property at Park Central currently starts at £90,000 for a one bedroom apartment, or from just £63,000 with the HomeBuy Direct scheme. Two bedroom apartments are currently priced from £148,500, or from £103,950 with the HomeBuy Direct scheme.

Crest Nicholson is urging first time buyers to visit the development, set out on 8 acres of landscaped public parkland, this evening between 5pm and 7pm.

WMHG appoint Lovell to develop a £4.5m housing scheme at Longbridge

West Mercia Housing Group have chosen affordable housing specialist Lovell to build a £4.5 million housing scheme at Longbridge in the city.

The new development in Thelbridge Road will create 48 new homes and apartments, 28 of which for affordable rent and the remaining 20 for shared ownership. The development will be made up of two, three and four bedroom houses and 6 two bedroom apartments.

The development, set to be completed in June 2011, will include Birmingham’s first affordable zero-carbon homes, built to Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, the system used for measuring the sustainable performance of new housing.

You can visit new homes Birmingham to see the latest Lovell developments currently available in the area.

New £5m design studio opens at Longbridge

A £5m design studio and technical centre for MG has opened at the former Longbridge site in the city. The centre will become the company's global design headquarters and employ around 300 designers and engineers.

The firm said that it is a "very significant day and a major new investment in UK automotive engineering and design".

This latest development sees the biggest investment at the former plant since the collapse of MG Rover back in 2005.

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