LONDON (Reuters) – AMP Ltd (AMP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Australia’s second-largest wealth manager, sees attractive opportunities for its infrastructure arm in investing in the submarine cables that connect Europe’s offshore wind farms to the electricity grid.

The European Union estimates that North Sea offshore wind capacity could reach up to 150 gigawatts by 2030 — equivalent to 150 of the latest nuclear reactors — meeting 16 percent of Europe’s expected electricity consumption.

This has brought huge capital expenditure requirements on transmission system operators, leading to companies such as Dutch grid operator TenneT trying to find investors who will take minority stakes in cable projects.

“We are speaking to TenneT,” Boe Pahari, European infrastructure head of AMP Capital investors, the fund management business of AMP, told the Reuters Global Real Estate and Infrastructure summit in London on Tuesday.

TenneT said in April it had launched the sale of stakes in two German offshore power cables, aiming to recoup some of the total 1.2 billion euro investment and preserve its credit rating.

Cables linking offshore wind farms to the grid offer infrastructure investors exposure to a growing renewable energy sector without the risks of installing and operating turbines at sea, an operationally daunting task, Pahari said.

“These are submarine transmission cables. We do not take offshore wind risk, such as the risk of the turbines operating, nor the volume or the wind speed. What we undertake is the commitment to have the cable available,” Pahari said.

LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) – AMP Ltd , Australia’s second-largest wealth manager, sees attractive opportunities for its infrastructure arm in investing in the submarine cables that connect Europe’s offshore wind farms to the electricity grid.

The European Union estimates that North Sea offshore wind capacity could reach up to 150 gigawatts by 2030 — equivalent to 150 of the latest nuclear reactors — meeting 16 percent of Europe’s expected electricity consumption.

This has brought huge capital expenditure requirements on transmission system operators, leading to companies such as Dutch grid operator TenneT trying to find investors who will take minority stakes in cable projects.

“We are speaking to TenneT,” Boe Pahari, European infrastructure head of AMP Capital investors, the fund management business of AMP, told the Reuters Global Real Estate and Infrastructure summit in London on Tuesday.

TenneT said in April it had launched the sale of stakes in two German offshore power cables, aiming to recoup some of the total 1.2 billion euro investment and preserve its credit rating.

Cables linking offshore wind farms to the grid offer infrastructure investors exposure to a growing renewable energy sector without the risks of installing and operating turbines at sea, an operationally daunting task, Pahari said.

“These are submarine transmission cables. We do not take offshore wind risk, such as the risk of the turbines operating, nor the volume or the wind speed. What we undertake is the commitment to have the cable available,” Pahari said.

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) – The UK government has signed up Britain’s largest housebuilders and lenders for a new 500 million pound($812.7 million) loan scheme to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder, housing minister Grant Shapps said on Monday.

Companies such as Persimmon , Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey are among the 100 housebuilders who will sign contracts this summer, enabling them to offer homes for sale through the government’s FirstBuy scheme.

Lenders backing the project include Lloyds Banking Group’s Halifax, Nationwide and Barclays .

Finance Minister George Osborne said in his 2011 budget the shared-equity scheme would cost 250 million pounds and be funded from the proceeds of last year’s UK bank levy.

The scheme will provide buyers with a loan of up to 20 percent of the purchase price, split between the Homes and Communities Agency and the housebuilder. The loan will be interest-free for five years and will enable a buyer with a 5 percent deposit to take out a 75 percent mortgage.

Banks have tightened up their lending criteria in the wake of the credit crunch, partly due to more stringent regulations that require them to hold more capital on their books.

Many first-time buyers are now required to stump up bigger cash deposits in order to secure a home loan, which has dented demand for mortgages and led to a sharp slowdown in Britain’s housing market.

LONDON (Reuters) – The City of London said it was concerned about government proposals to relax planning rules that restrict shops and offices being converted into residential developments, in a bid to ease Britain’s housing shortage.

“If implemented, the impact on the City of London will be disastrous,” said Peter Wynne Rees, a planning officer at the Corporation of London, which runs the City of London district of the capital, an area with few residential properties.

“The City would no longer be a commercial district and London would lose its role as a world financial centre.”

The government plans involve freeing up more land and buildings for residential development and conversion.

Finance minister George Osborne said in his budget in March he wanted to cut much of the red tape that prohibits converting commercial property into homes, with the government proposing that if all long-term unoccupied office space was converted, 250,000 homes could be delivered.

“Our hope might be that this would encourage more change of use from commercial to residential. If you look at the amount of land that is around, there appears to be a high potential,” said a senior official at the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

This came hot on the heels of government plans to sell public land worth an estimated 10 billion pounds, after housing starts have fallen to record lows.

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) – The City of London said it was concerned about government proposals to relax planning rules that restrict shops and offices being converted into residential developments, in a bid to ease Britain’s housing shortage.

“If implemented, the impact on the City of London will be disastrous,” said Peter Wynne Rees, a planning officer at the Corporation of London, which runs the City of London district of the capital, an area with few residential properties.

“The City would no longer be a commercial district and London would loose its role as a world financial centre.”

The government plans involve freeing up more land and buildings for residential development and conversion.

Finance minister George Osborne said in his budget in March he wanted to cut much of the red tape that prohibits converting commercial property into homes, with the government proposing that if all long-term unoccupied office space was converted, 250,000 homes could be delivered.

“Our hope might be that this would encourage more change of use from commercial to residential. If you look at the amount of land that is around, there appears to be a high potential,” said a senior official at the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

This came hot on the heels of government plans to sell public land worth an estimated 10 billion pounds, after housing starts have fallen to record lows.

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) – Troubled British care home provider Southern Cross (SCHE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it had reached an agreement with its landlords that would guarantee the welfare of 31,000 elderly residents whose well-being had been in question.

In a joint statement following a crunch meeting on Thursday, Southern Cross and its landlords said they would work towards a “consensual solution” to the company’s current financial problems which would be delivered over the next four months.

“The continuity and quality of care to all residents will be maintained and every resident will continue to be well looked after,” they said.

Southern Cross and its landlords said the process would be overseen by a restructuring committee made up of representatives of the landlords’ committee and the company.

The company last month said it would stop paying nearly a third of its rental bill while it attempted to agree a rescue package after it was hit by government cuts, falling admissions and rising costs. [ID:nLDE75C0AG]

The landlords on Monday approved a draft proposal to break up the business and take control of some homes. However, the proposals are subject to approval by the company, its lenders and the government.

The plight of the company, which pledged to axe 3,000 staff, has prompted concern over continuing care for residents in its 750 homes.

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) – Landlords to struggling British care provider Southern Cross (SCHE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will meet in London on Monday to thrash out proposals to break up the business and take control of some homes, industry sources told Reuters.

A committee representing the biggest landlords, including property investor NHP and care home operators Four Seasons and Bondcare, have drawn up plans to put to all 80 landlords, the sources said.

“The landlords are trying to get to a position where they can table their own plan and try and move this thing forward and get it resolved. If they agree that, they will put it to the other key parties — the government, Southern Cross and Southern Cross’s bankers (Lloyds and Barclays),” said one source.

Southern Cross, which provides residential and nursing care for about 31,000 elderly and vulnerable people in Britain, last month said it would stop paying nearly a third of its rental bill while it attempted to agree a rescue package.

The plight of the company, which pledged to axe 3,000 staff, has prompted concern over continuing care for residents in its 750 homes.

Shares in the company, which have collapsed from a high of 159 pence last January, were up 36 percent to 6.5 pence at 1147 GMT, valuing the business at just under 20 million pounds.

Sources told Reuters that Southern Cross’s landlords hope to reach an outline agreement on Monday ahead of crunch talks with the government and Southern Cross on Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Tentative signs of a recovery in private sector work may ease the pain of a double-dip recession in the construction industry in the wake of severe government spending cuts at the end of 2010.

“The underlying trend should brighten a little bit (in the second half),” Allan Wilen, economics director at construction industry analyst Glenigan, told Reuters.

Construction output, which was one of the biggest drags on growth in the first three months of this year, fell by 13.8 percent on the month in April, according to unadjusted data published by the ONS on Friday.

Analysts, although unconvinced that the official numbers tally with the picture conveyed by sentiment indicators, said the downturn may have hit the bottom.

“Construction output was up by 5.5 percent in the three months to April compared to the three months to January,” said Howard Archer at Global Insight.

“This supports hopes that the second quarter will see expansion in construction output and a positive contribution to GDP,” he added.

Data from the latest RICS Construction Survey suggested further optimism as private sector workloads are expected to edge upwards and greenshoots of activity in the private sector emerge.

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) – Tentative signs of a recovery in private sector work may ease the pain of a double-dip recession in the UK construction industry in the wake of severe government spending cuts at the end of 2010.

“The underlying trend should brighten a little bit (in the second half),” Allan Wilen, economics director at construction industry analyst Glenigan, told Reuters.

Construction output, which was one of the biggest drags on growth in the first three months of this year, fell by 13.8 percent on the month in April, according to unadjusted data published by the ONS on Friday. [ID:nLDE7590RH]

Analysts, although unconvinced that the official numbers tally with the picture conveyed by sentiment indicators, said the downturn may have hit the bottom.

“Construction output was up by 5.5 percent in the three months to April compared to the three months to January,” said Howard Archer at Global Insight.

“This supports hopes that the second quarter will see expansion in construction output and a positive contribution to GDP,” he added.

Data from the latest RICS Construction Survey suggested further optimism as private sector workloads are expected to edge upwards and greenshoots of activity in the private sector emerge.

LONDON (Reuters) – The government plans to sell public land worth an estimated 10 billion pounds to address a chronic housing shortage and help erode its record budget deficit.

All government departments with significant landbanks will be asked to identify, by the autumn, land suitable for sale for homes, Housing Minister Grant Shapps will say on Wednesday.

This will be used to build 100,000 homes over the next three to four years, in a scheme that is expected to support as many as 25,000 jobs.

The 10 billion pounds estimate of surplus land is based on government figures for land values in England from HM Treasury in 2005, supplied by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA).

“As one of the country’s biggest landlords, the government has a critical role to play in making sites available for developers so we can get the homes this country needs built,” Shapps will say in a statement.

“Over the coming months, property specialists will work to make sure no stone is left unturned and no site is left unused, and every department’s plans will come under the close scrutiny of a cabinet committee.”

Some of the land will be sold under a “Build Now, Buy Later” deal, and the names of the first three sites — to be made available immediately to developers — will be announced on Wednesday.