Consulting engineers report 50% increase in building developments

New build developments have increased by 50% for a firm of Newcastle consulting engineers following renewed confidence in the house building sector.

Patrick Parsons Consulting Engineers has seen a dramatic increase in the number of new build developments it has been appointed to work on since March 2012.

The firm, which has headquarters in Newcastle, has been appointed as project engineers on 12 new developments across the north, with a total of 1279 residential units granted planning permission.

A further 11 new sites with 1451 units are also in the pipeline at pre-planning stage.

The latest figures released by the National House-Building Council showed that new home registrations in February 2013 were 24 per cent up on the same period last year.

And Peter Stienlet, managing director of Patrick Parsons, claims that the company is seeing the results of renewed vigour in the house building sector at first hand.

He said: “We have seen a significant growth in appointments to work on new build developments over the last year.

“Patrick Parsons has a long established track record in the house building sector, working for high profile developers including Barratt Homes, Bellway Homes, Ben Bailey Homes, Gentoo, Persimmon Homes, Southdale and Taylor Wimpey.

“We’re delighted to be engaged on so many new sites, now that confidence is returning to the market, and it’s testimony to our expertise in this sector that we’re working with so many leading house builders.

“We’ve had an extremely positive start to 2013 and are looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring.”

Patrick Parsons, which offers full consulting engineering support to the construction sector, is working on six new sites which are currently under construction.

The new sites include, St Mary’s at Stannington in Northumberland, a development of 280 new homes by Bellway Homes and The Mayfair in Seaton Carew, a Persimmon Homes scheme featuring 249 new homes.

And the company will soon be on-site at further developments including an executive homes scheme at the former Poole Hospital in Middlesbrough and a development of 32 new homes in Wigan.

Over the past 18 months the company have opened offices in Huddersfield and Chester and have acquired Odin Consulting Engineers in Glasgow.

Mr Stienlet said that the increase in the company’s workload has resulted in it strengthening its civil engineering and geoenvironmental departments with three new members of staff, and more new appointments are to follow.

Commenting on the Help To Buy scheme announced in the recent Budget, which is intended to aid purchasers in buying newly-built homes, he said: “Any measure which helps to stimulate growth in the housing market – particularly in the new build sector – should be welcomed.”