Good morning. Ah, Friday. Almost time to head home and spend some time with the family. Oh.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has presented regulations to parliament to enable virtual planning committees during the coronavirus lockdown.
Meanwhile chancellor Rishi Sunak has criticised banks for granting fewer than 1,000 emergency loans(£) despite receiving over 130,000 enquiries. Larger loans for bigger businesses(£) will also now be available.
While the FTSE 100 rose just half a percent yesterday, Landsec was up by more than 2% yesterday after cancelling its dividend(£) and announcing that it had received close to two thirds of rents due.
Remember the old days when retail property was sexy and sheds were, well, sheds? Segro was up more than 1% after saying it had received more than 70% of rents(£). It is currently sitting on £1.2bn of cash and undrawn facilities, would need rents to drop by 80% and values to plunge by 64% before it breached any of its covenants. Who’s sexy now?
More landlords have said they are willing to share the pain with retail tenants(£), but too many tenants just want to pass it on.
Meanwhile a split has emerged among pub owners. Some – Admiral, Fuller’s, Young’s – have cancelled rents for their tenants(£), putting pressure on others – Punch, Ei Group, Greene King – who are only offering to defer the debt.
And, as the news emerges that banks fought the Bank of England tooth and nail(£) over orders to cancel their dividends, investors have so far missed out on payments(£) of £16bn(£). Expect that to rise as the insurance sector follows suit(£)…
Sales on the high street fell by 34.1%(£) in March. Spoiler alert: April won’t be pretty either.
Even Philip Green is feeling the pinch, asking for taxpayer help to pay 14,500 Arcadia staff.
Airbnb has lowered its internal valuation by 16% to £26bn. Some estimates say bookings are down by 90%(£).
Construction sites are none the wiser over whether to stay open or close, after the government published advice yesterday and then immediately withdrew it(£).
So you can stay better informed, EG had two leading barristers debate the Covid-19 legislation.
In other news, prepare for battle as WeWork’s board says it will sue SoftBank, after the investor pulled the plug on a planned $3bn share buy(£).
SoftBank has insisted it remains fully committed to the company and concept, but, The FT (£) warns, the days of free IPA on tap are over.
Riba’s president, Alan Jones, has stepped down(£) over what the Charity Commission is calling a “serious incident”.
Council objections to planned hydroelectric turbine on the River Muick(£) have been overruled, after the Cairngorms National Park Authority sided with the applicant, Queen Elizabeth II. The park authority pointed out that Balmoral already had a similar scheme. Indeed, it has three – the first having been installed to provide Queen Victoria with a reading lamp.
And finally, George Clooney has not been able to charm his local planning committee. The dreamy movie star had planned to build an outdoor lavatory(£) in the garden of his Oxfordshire mansion. Sadly, they have been poo-pooed by the planning committee. The council appears to have no issue with the potting shed design, or the revelation that Clooney, in common with many bears, prefers his motions al fresco. It is rather more concerned that the foundations will damage the roots of a protected coast redwood tree.
