Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals, all perfectly curated to set you up for the week ahead.
Deals activity is picking up in London’s West End. GPE has splashed another £58.5m in the region as it nears its promise to spend at least £100m in the area. The group has bought Whittington House as it builds a cluster of buildings around Tottenham Court Road, WC1. GPE said it would reposition the building once its gets vacant possession in early 2025, prepping it for occupation in 2027 when it believes there will be a drain on supply.
GPE senior investment manager Alexa Baden-Powell said: “Whittington House is our first HQ acquisition following our rights issue in May and meets all of our acquisition criteria. At a significant discount to replacement cost, the building has angles to exploit and our refurbishment will deliver high-quality, sustainable space into a market that is increasingly starved of such supply.
“Together with the recent purchase of 19/23 Wells Street, we have invested £77.5m into new West End acquisitions in the last month, or £110m including the capex we intend to invest in both buildings, and our pipeline of further opportunities remains strong.”
Elsewhere in the West End Norwegian wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management has upped its stake in Savile Row owner The Pollen Estate, buying an £81m stake from Greenwich Hospital. The deal adds a further 10% to its 58% holding in the West End estate.
While Norges ups its investment in the capital, the City of London Corporation has put plans to move Smithfield and Billingsgate markets out of central London and into Dagenham on hold, citing a need to look at how financially stable the plans are. Proposals to move the central London markets, freeing the sites up for redevelopment, have been in progress since 2021. The “cessation” of the proposals will be discussed at a financial committee meeting on 12 November.
Despite having to add an extra £50m to the impact on profits from some dodging build cost accounting, housebuilder Vistry remains committed to adding to its development pipeline. The group has bought a site in Hinckley, Leicestershire, where plans are in place for a £140m scheme comprising 475 homes
In Wembley, north-west London, plans to transform a former waste management site into almost 760 student beds are set to get the go ahead. The scheme, proposed by Wembley Edge Property, comprises seven buildings ranging in height from five to 15-storeys. A minimum of half the beds provided will be at affordable rents.
Let’s hope both new homes builders plan to design them beautifully, however, as a fresh report from think tank Centre for Social Justice claims that ugly buildings are fuelling a loneliness epidemic in the the UK. It reckons that half of UK adults think that architects and planners are “out of touch” with what local people want, with four in ten disagreeing that buildings are designed in way that encourages community spirit.
ICYMI on Friday evening, EG broke the news of who the government is lining up to step in at interim chief executive of Homes England.
Long-time public servant and experienced interim CEO Eamonn Boylan is rumoured to be close to be being given the job. According to sources close to Homes England, Boylan will return to the department to run it as both chief executive Peter Denton and chairman Peter Freeman relinquish their roles after four years in post.
Boylan was deputy chief executive of Homes England from 2008 to 2010.
And don’t forget, if you need to stay one step ahead of the competition this week, EG has you covered with a look ahead to what to expect in UK real estate with the EG news agenda.
All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:
GPE commits to cluster building with Whittington House buy
Art college extends footprint at The Amp
Crown Estate plans £1.5bn redevelopment of Cambridge Business Park
York Central expands development team
Dalata plans Tower 42 hotel
Public sector veteran lined up as interim Homes England boss
Vistry snaps up £140m Leicestershire site for resi scheme
760-bed Wembley PBSA project set to get go-ahead
Norges splashes £81m on extra slice of West End
Smithfield market move on hold
Ugly buildings fuel loneliness epidemic
Swindon council to remove ‘unnecessary hurdles’ for town centre regen
Redical appoints adviser for sustainability drive
EG’s news agenda: What to look out for this week
COMMENT: How media moves are helping redefine regional cities
West Midlands Growth Company tipped for reform over lack of economic impact
Britain’s biggest property fraudster and the missing £95m (£)
Soho House needs to put house in order (£)
Vistry boss offered to resign after build cost errors (£)
UK landed estates warn Budget tax changes will ‘kill off’ business (£)
Hotel tycoon scraps £20m investment after Reeves’s tax raid (£)
Space NK to open ten new shops as boss says high street looks good (£)
Builders face ban on gas boilers in most new homes in England (£)
Estate agent downgrades house price growth forecast after Budget (£)
Hospitality bosses warn Reeves’ UK tax increases will lead to ‘drastic’ job cuts (£)
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