MORNING NEWS: Home REIT under investigation
Plus – Berkeley strikes Homes England deal for 8,00 homes and bad news for Body Shop landlords
Latest Articles by Piers Wehner
FCA to investigate Home REIT
Shares in the troubled REIT were suspended on 3 January
Vistry to deliver 5,000 homes for Sigma’s BTR brand
The framework agreement will deliver the homes over the next five years
Henley gets nod for beds and sheds at Albert and Swedish Wharf
Thames-side scheme will include 276 flats and a 55,000 sq ft last-mile logistics depot
Homes England, GLA and Berkeley sign strategic partnership
A £125m infrastructure loan will help unlock 8,000 homes in central London
Body Shop administration could close 100 stores
FRP Advisory has been hired to consider options
Home Office does deals for 16,000 asylum seeker properties
Landlords have been offered five-year rent-guarantee deals
Legal challenge over plans to relax sewage laws for housebuilders
A campaign group has submitted plans for a judicial review
FCA fines and bans LCF director
Floris Huisamen handled compliance for the minibond property investor
Harris ditched Abrdn after losing faith
Shareholder “lacked confidence that management could repair the business”
Airbnb revenue exceeds expectations
The rental platform pulled in $2.22bn in Q4, ahead of the $2.17bn expected by analysts
Shopping centre slump is turning around
Investment is shopping centres was lower in 2023 than in any year since 2000
London skyline ‘jarring’ because planners get dazzled
The New York Times says officials are wowed by “trophy architects”
MORNING NEWS: Blackstone merges sheds
Plus – Gove set to call in London Plan and M&S starts High Court battle
Life Science REIT signs WAE at Oxford Technology Park
WAE Technologies will take the 57,000 sq ft Building 5 for £1.15m pa
Gove will call in London Plan over housing delivery
London’s mayor is to blame for UK housing crisis, says prime minister
M&S starts High Court battle over Oxford Street plans
The judicial review into Michael Gove’s decision begins today
Heathrow calls for PM to scrap ‘tourist tax’
The prime minister has “shut the door” on domestic growth, says airport operator
Energy-hungry data centres blocked by governments
Ireland, Germany, Singapore and China already have restrictions
Hillingdon branded ‘most nimby’ council
The London borough has approved an average of 59% of planning applications
Warehouse REIT sells two sites for £13m
The REIT has sold £53m of assets since April last year
MORNING NEWS: Tritax takeover
Plus – IWG wants to quintuple UK estate and Gove wants to be more dense
Tritax Big Box and UKCM agree £4bn merger
Merger would create £6.3bn portfolio and a £3.9bn stock market value
IWG wants 2,000 more UK sites in just five years
The quintupling of its estate would require an office to be opened every day
Gove promises to spur brownfield development
The levelling up secretary is trailing a speech expected on Tuesday
Mexican on the menu for Ask owner
Azzurri wants to open five Boojum Mexican restaurants in the UK a year
Body Shop to appoint administrators
The retailer has around 200 stores in the UK
Manchester Airport drops plans to be Heathrow of North
Scrapping HS2 has forced the airport to lower ambitions
Firm speeds up geology to make green building materials
MCi Carbon is making plasterboard and concrete from waste materials
The EG Interview: The king of King’s Cross
Robert Evans on more than 20 years at Argent and lessons learnt about big regeneration projects
MORNING NEWS: King’s Cross, Kellogg’s and concrete
Plus – analyst warning on Soho House and WeWork creditors’ concern over Neumann bid
Bellway revenue and completions fall by a third
Six-month revenue down to £1.25bn as completions drop to 4,092
Soho House could face same fate as WeWork, analysts warn
The business has 41 clubs, three Ned hotels, and nine workspaces
Kellogg’s to close Trafford Park factory
Only half of the space on the 27-acre site is used, and the rest is inefficient
WeWork creditors concerned by Neumann’s bid
‘His timing is abysmal. And we’ve told him that. He’s just not hearing it.’
Weston family reaps £37m dividend after property sales
The sale of Brighton’s Grand Hotel helped boost profit
More than 100 RAAC-riddled schools require rebuilds
Government says 119 schools need one or more buildings rebuilt
Buy-to-let mortgage arrears rise by 124%
More than 100,000 borrowers are in serious difficulty
Florida compound could be most expensive US home sale
Gordon Pointe is being marketed by Savills at $295m
URW profit back to pre-Covid levels
Mall owner made €1bn of asset disposals and added €450m of rent in 2023
MORNING NEWS: Planning needs to be less ‘computer says no’
Plus – The Economist in Birmingham and Bruntwood SciTech’s £480m loan
PPHE promotes Hegarty to co-CEO
The hotel developer’s current COO will hold the post alongside Boris Ivesha
South Yorkshire ramps up housing ambitions with Homes England deal
Strategic partnership will support plans for 5,000 homes
The Economist takes top floor at Ergo’s Birmingham block
The publisher has signed for 3,684 sq ft on a five-year lease
One Heritage Group appoints new CFO
Stuart Ormisher joins from Property Alliance Group
Sainsbury’s to ‘right-size’ stores and cut £1bn in costs
The food-first plans will see 75 extra convenience stores
Labour to formally drop £28bn green investment pledge
Starmer expected to say that public finances have been left in too dire a state
Metro mayors unite for HS2 alternative
Using the same route as the scrapped northern line, but lowering speeds, will cut costs
Housebuyer demand, sales and prices all rise
The latest RICS survey shows first rises in almost two years
Tenant sues Clarion for subletting his Chelsea flat
Filippe Scalora was stranded abroad during the Covid pandemic in 2020
