Good morning. Pesach sameach.
The lockdown(£) will last at least another three weeks, ministers have warned.
But the housing market will need help even when the pandemic eases, the RICS has warned. It proposes a stamp duty holiday to resuscitate the sector.
Derwent London is bucking the prevailing trend, saying it will maintain its dividend and will not furloughed any staff after collecting 70% of rents due. Shares in the FTSE 250 company rose by 4.3% in trading yesterday
The owners of London’s Westfield shopping centres(£), meanwhile, have said they will cut executive pay by a quarter.
And companies will be able to tap investors for emergency funds without seeking shareholder approval(£), after the FCA relaxed the rules last night.
Tesco has defended its decision(£) to pay £900m to shareholders(£), despite bagging £585m in business rates relief.
And, as the HMRC warns that the government’s furlough scheme has been targeted by organised criminals…
… EG’s editor wants to remind us that support is for those who really need support. This is not the time to prosper, this is not the time to play the system. This is the time to fix it.
The FT (£) crunches some numbers on what the lockdown could really mean for the economy. You might want to sit down for this.
And EG asks what things we all miss from our former working routines as the lockdown continues. Warning: This article contains the word “banter”.
In New York, developers of luxury towers(£) are worried that coronavirus could prove fatal as buyers walk away from agreed deals.
And the return to something like normality in China is offering hope to agents and developers. Galliard is one firm flying East to relaunch its sales office.
Meanwhile, Ren Zhiqiang, the Chinese property tycoon who disappeared last month(£) after calling President Xi a “clown”, is apparently being held by anti-corruption police.
In other news, the National Crime Agency has lost its landmark attempt(£) to confiscate three properties worth £80m. A High Court judge ruled yesterday(£) that its contention that Kazakhstan’s Rakhat Aliyev was the source of the funds was “unreliable”.
An article in The Times (£) asks: Is it high time we looked at rights to light again? Well, I’ve got some time on my hands…
And the founder of White Stuff has submitted an amended retrospective planning application for his illegal two-storey garage and private skate park(£) in Salcombe, Devon. Sean Thomas hopes to win over planning officers with 1,000 trees and a meadow of wildflowers. Chocolates wouldn’t go amiss, either.
And finally, it seemed on Monday that former Uber chief turned property investor Travis Kalanick had returned to his disrupting ways. The Internet Food Court, a mega ‘ghost kitchen’ in Hollywood, was trumpeted as his latest brainchild. A glossy release and new website proclaimed CloudKitchens new service, “Like a mall food court, except less mall and more internet”. Food from 30 distinct restaurant brands would be served up and delivered to self-isolators’ doors. “All your favs in one place” – “Thai. Indian. Chinese. Russian. Errrrthang”. Food for everyone, “except Karen”, the meme-savvy Instagram posts promised. And then it vanished(£). By Tuesday the profile and the website had been deleted, the entire business had disappeared, leaving just the name Internet Food Court emblazoned across the windows of 615 North Western Avenue, LA. Kalanick’s people are now saying the release was the work of an overly keen junior employee. Perhaps the “Karen” meme should have been a clue…
