Good morning.
As the prime minister says that the “inevitable” third wave(£) of Covid infections will not change the government’s plans to ease lockdown restrictions…
… Ministers are preparing for flexible working to become a permanent feature of British life after coronavirus. Proposals include a simple legal right to work from home(£).
Meanwhile, Citigroup’s boss Jane Fraser has called for Zoom free Fridays(£), to prevent work from eating into home life under hybrid working models. She added that most roles at the bank will become hybrid, with “somewhat rarer” fully remote roles. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, has committed to Saturdays off(£).
Second home owners who falsely register(£) their properties as holiday lets(£) face a clampdown from the taxman, the Treasury’s Tax Day drop has revealed.
But the industry has criticised the government for failing to take any meaningful steps(£) towards business rates reform(£), after its interim report was dismissed as “Groundhog Day”.
Three of Britain’s biggest wholesale food markets are set to move to a single riverside site in Dagenham, freeing up City space for development. Billingsgate, Smithfield and New Spitalfields markets will merge(£) after the City of London Corporation received approval from Barking and Dagenham’s planning committee to relocate them to a new site, formerly occupied by Barking power station in east London.
Meanwhile Time Out has scrapped plans for a food market at London & Continental Railways’ London Waterloo Station scheme. Time Out lost nearly a fifth of its value(£) following the announcement.
The UK lost 11,000 shops(£) in 2020, with a further 18,000 set to close this year.
But a 102,000 sq ft former Debenhams department store in Stevenage could be converted into a 2-floor Marks & Spencer shop and food hall, under plans lodged by Stevenage Retail.
BDO’s sale of the One Blackfriars “Boomerang” site will not come back to bite it, after the accountant fought off a £250m claim of alleged negligence(£).
Ivanhoé Cambridge has joined forces with real estate tech VC Fifth Wall(£) to accelerate technology adoption and innovation across its global estate.
The former chief financial officer of intu, Robert Allen, has joined the Crown Estate as interim CFO, replacing Kate Bowyer.
Knight Frank has poached Daniel Harris from Savills to be a partner in its residential development team.
Allowing evaluators to decide if they are qualified will “critically undermine” pre-pack administration reforms(£) and expose the system to “rogues”.
Shares in Crest Nicholson rose yesterday, after the housebuilder set it was “set to benefit” from measures in this month’s Budget and raised its full-year profit expectations.
And the number of homes being sold(£) surged nearly 50% last month compared with a year earlier as buyers rushed to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline(£). Again.
The government’s own industrial strategy council(£) has savaged its plans to level up the country.
The FT (£) is optimistic about WeWork’s future…
… And talks to Shard architect Renzo Piano(£) about plans for Paddington and Monaco’s $2bn coastal extension.
Australians hit by recent flooding has blamed the swell in development on flood plains.
A Highland hamlet is attempting to secure the future of Britain’s most remote pub(£).
And finally, Sir Antony Gormley’s ‘sex toys'(£) will be removed from Aldeburgh beach. But despite complaints from prudish residents of the Suffolk coastal town, the four cast-iron sculptures have not been censored due to their lewd appearance. Nor has the installation fallen foul of the fact that it did not have planning consent. Instead, Sir Antony has asked that they be removed. Apparently they had been shoved in at the wrong angle.
