LONDON (Reuters) – Britain 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.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – Britain plans to sell public land worth an estimated 10 billion pounds ($16.35 billion) 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.

LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) – Colombia is turning to public-private partnerships to help plug an infrastructure gap that is seen as a threat to Latin America’s No. 4 oil producer’s plans to hike crude, coal and coffee exports.

Decades of fighting guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers, a lack of investment and corruption scandals have left the country with a sizeable infrastructure deficit, which was worsened by recent floods destroying roads and bridges.

“It can be more expensive to transport to a port from Bogota than from Cartagena (port) to India,” said Maria Paula Moreno an infrastructure expert at Fitch Ratings agency.

The Andean country is pushing to fill that hole with public private partnerships (PPPs), and the planning department says that 30 percent of an estimated 180 infrastructure projects in the pipeline will most likely be contracted through PPPs.

Over the last 18 months, Colombia has started implementing public-private contracts for government buildings after conducting pilot projects that were backed by a British private finance initiative.

Colombia is enjoying a resurgence in investment, especially in its oil and mining sectors after violence fell due to a 2002 U.S.-backed security crackdown. But choked roads, rail and ports may hamper the drive to boost exports such as coffee, coal and oil, and to benefit from new markets like Asia. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Map of rails, ports click: r.reuters.com/muq28r

LONDON, June 01 (Reuters) – World number one building supplies company Wolseley (WOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) kept investors guessing about the future of underperforming parts of the business as it reported strong profit growth driven by its U.S. activities.

Chief Financial Officer John Martin said UK builder’s merchant Build Center was still under review along with other parts of the business and played down recent newspaper speculation that it was already up for sale.

“We will improve the performance of these businesses, and then either we classify them for retention in the group or sell them.We haven’t recategorised Build Center,” Martin said after the company released quarterly results on Wednesday.

He stressed that units under scrutiny would not necessarily end up on the auction block.

Build Center had been seen as a likely disposal target, given its weak position in the UK market as the number four in general merchanting, and Wolseley’s ongoing strategy to sell off non-core assets.

Shares rose over 3 percent on Tuesday following speculation that three of its UK businesses — Build Center, Electric Center and Encon — were on the market, expected to bring in 300 million pounds. [ID:nLDE74S0AC]

The FTSE 100 company indicated in March it was looking at alternatives for its French plumbing and heating unit Brossette including a possible disposal. Martin said they would update the market on the sale process in October.

LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) – Insolvencies in the British construction sector surged in the first quarter, rising for the first time in two years and raising fears that government cuts were hitting the sector harder than first feared.

The number of businesses going bankrupt climbed 19 percent to 948 from 796 in the prior quarter as fiscal stimulus for infrastructure projects dried up, according to a report from Wilkins Kennedy.

Government plans to scrap public sector building programmes, such as Building Schools for the Future, has fuelled bankruptcies and fears of a prolonged downturn. [ID:nLDE67C12N]

“The government has slashed capital spending on infrastructure across the board in order to plug the deficit and that has pushed the construction sector into a double dip,” said Anthony Cork, director at Wilkins Kennedy.

“The question now is how quickly private sector construction work will be able to pick up the slack left by the public sector. So far this has not happened,” he added.

The total value of new work awarded to UK construction companies fell 39 percent to 21 billion pounds ($35 billion) during the 12 months to May, according to research from Barbour ABI.

Public sector spending on construction projects represents 40 percent of the industry’s turnover.

LONDON (Reuters) – The environmentally friendly credentials of London’s 2012 Olympic venues are already fuelling “greener” building in Britain and will influence future global events, said the Olympic Development Authority.

In a promise to deliver the ‘greenest ever’ Olympic Games, sustainability was at the heart of London’s bid.

“The contractors are looking to take a lot of the best practices they put in place for our project, and take that back into their businesses,” Richard Jackson, Environment Manager at the ODA, in charge of Olympic build and infrastructure, said.

“We’re also looking to national government, to see if there is a way that they can adopt some of these standards and processes that we’ve put in place around sustainable procurement,” he told Reuters.

The sustainability practices, such as innovation around waste management and water efficiency savings through treating sewage water, developed at the 2.5 square kilometer site in East London will also be the blueprint for future Olympic sites.

Russia and Brazil are looking to London’s ODA for advice on designs focused around sustainability in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi amongst other events.

Brazil is planning more than $1 trillion in construction projects this decade ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) – Credit card insurer CPP (CPPG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects a swift resolution to an investigation by the UK’s Financial Services Authority into its identity theft products, its chief executive said, after confirming the probe would dent first-half revenue growth.

“I would expect it to be in weeks, it might even be days, but not months,” Eric Woolley told Reuters.

“It’s better that the FSA consider the issue carefully and with all the information they need … so in a way I don’t want to hassle them, but I obviously hope it’s (concluded) as soon as possible,” he added.

Shares in the company have lost more than half their value since an investigation was launched by the UK regulator at the end of March.

“They’re investigating our sales practice from two key perspectives. One is whether the premise of identity theft in general is exaggerated, and secondly whether people understand the purpose of the insurance,” said Woolley.

Within a fortnight of the initial probe being announced, the FTSE-250 company said Barclaycard had decided to suspend sales of CPP products through a card activation channel. [ID:nLDE73A08X]

CPP’s other business partners are “keen to see the discussion with the FSA settled”, said Woolley but have not suspended any CPP products, he added.

LONDON (Reuters) – British police arrested 56 people in London Friday for a range of mostly minor offences as they mounted one of the biggest security operations ever seen in the capital around the royal wedding.

Around 5,000 officers were on duty to control the huge flag-waving crowds, alongside around 1,000 soldiers lining the route from Westminster Abbey to Queen Elizabeth’s London residence, Buckingham Palace.

Specialist teams with sniffer dogs had patrolled the procession route searching for explosives, while helicopters buzzed overhead as part of the operation to protect Prince William and his new wife Kate Middleton.

By 1615 GMT, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said there had been 56 arrests. Most of those detained were held for minor public order offences.

Police arrested 10 people at Charing Cross railway station after they were found to be carrying anti-royalist placards.

One million people lined the route between the church and Buckingham Palace and 500,000 watched the couple appear on the palace balcony after the service, police estimated.

REPUBLICAN PROTESTS

LONDON (Reuters) – Police arrested 18 people in London on Friday for a range of mostly minor offences as they mounted one of the biggest security operations ever seen in the capital around the royal wedding.

Around 5,000 officers were on duty to control the huge flag-waving crowds, alongside around 1,000 soldiers lining the route from Westminster Abbey to Queen Elizabeth’s London residence, Buckingham Palace.

Specialist teams with sniffer dogs had patrolled the procession route searching for explosives, while helicopters buzzed overhead as part of the operation to protect Prince William and his new wife Kate Middleton.

By 11 a.m., a Metropolitan Police spokesman said there had been 18 arrests, including one on suspicion of sexual assault, three for being drunk and three for theft.

Spectators who waited hours for a glimpse of the royal couple in their open-top, horse-drawn carriage said the mood was jubilant, despite the crowds and heavy police presence.

“Considering the number of people here, it’s all very light hearted,” said Becton Davis, 42, who lives in London but is originally from North Carolina. “The atmosphere’s lovely.”

REPUBLICAN PROTESTS

LONDON (Reuters) – British police arrested 18 people in London Friday for a range of mostly minor offences as they mounted one of the biggest security operations ever seen in the capital around the royal wedding.

Around 5,000 officers were on duty to control the huge flag-waving crowds, alongside around 1,000 soldiers lining the route from Westminster Abbey to Queen Elizabeth’s London residence, Buckingham Palace.

Specialist teams with sniffer dogs had patrolled the procession route searching for explosives, while helicopters buzzed overhead as part of the operation to protect Prince William and his new wife Kate Middleton.

By 1000 GMT, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said there had been 18 arrests, including one on suspicion of sexual assault, three for being drunk and three for theft.

Spectators who waited hours for a glimpse of the royal couple in their open-top, horse-drawn carriage said the mood was jubilant, despite the crowds and heavy police presence.

“Considering the number of people here, it’s all very light hearted,” said Becton Davis, 42, who lives in London but is originally from North Carolina. “The atmosphere’s lovely.”

REPUBLICAN PROTESTS