Good morning,
The industry has been treated to a double helping of consultations this morning as ministers prepare to hike planning fees and RICS rewrites the Red Book.
RICS has launched a public consultation on discounted cash flow valuations. The consultation, which asks surveyors to assess the Red Book, its content and proposals for change, will close on 12 April.
Meanwhile, ministers are consulting on proposals to raise planning application fees by 35%. The hike would push the cost of a major application to as much as £405,000. And that’s before it starts to rise with inflation.
In other news, ultra wealthy private investors ploughed $455bn into real estate last year. That is the second highest sum on record, says Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report.
And the competition watchdog has launched a probe into the housebuilding sector, on the back of “widespread concerns about housing availability and costs”.
Oval Real Estate has appointed Knight Frank to advise on leasing at the Digbeth Estate, its 40-acre mixed-use regeneration scheme in Birmingham.
Edinburgh-based flexible workspace platform Desana has plans to expand globally, after closing a $7.4m (£6.1m) funding round, co-led by JLL Spark.
And Goodstone Living has secured £67m of debt financing with NatWest for its Leith Docks scheme in Edinburgh. The Macquarie Asset Management-backed developer bought the £80m, 338-home BTR scheme from S1 Developments last year.
Unite Students has set out plans to invest up to £250m into developments this year, after taking a “pause for breath” after last year’s mini-Budget.
And Sainsbury’s is planning to close two Argos distribution centres, the catalogue shop’s Milton Keynes head office and three remaining Habitat showrooms to cut costs.
Home REIT will be removed from FTSE indices tomorrow, following the continued suspension of its shares. Its third largest shareholder, Liontrust, said it was “clear there have been serious shortcomings in the operations and governance” of the REIT.
Elsewhere on the stock exchange, CapCo has published its final set of results ahead of its expected merger with Shaftesbury, centred on a £212m loss.
Meanwhile, the number of people sleeping rough in England has risen by more than a quarter in one year. In London it has risen by a third. It is the first time the numbers have increased since 2017.
Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors is demanding more than £500m of government aid for a gigafactory in Somerset.
London’s most expensive house – ever – has come up for sale after the expiry of a massive loan secured by its Saudi Arabian owners.
Vladimir Putin has been accused of “funnelling millions” of dollars into a property empire secretly owned by his gymnast lover.
And Disney has been stripped of its self-governing planning and tax powers over its Florida estate, following its opposition to the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law.
