MORNING NEWS: Who are the UK’s most active agents?

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. While the biggest real estate story in the national newspapers this morning may well be Brookfield and QIA pumping £400m into Canary Wharf Group, which you will have read yesterday on EG, the real biggest story of the day for anyone working in real estate, is just who has topped the EG Radius Leaderboards for Q3. The results, exclusively revealed here, show the most active agents according to space transacted and deal count, across the UK and by sector. Have you or your preferred adviser made it to the top? While those agents in the top spot may be feeling positive today, the overall sentiment from surveyors across the country remains steadfastly negative, according to the RICS’s latest Commercial Property Monitor. Just 25% thought that the current downturn was bottoming out, while three-quarters anticipated that pressures on corporate spending would intensify over the coming year. The monitor paints a less than pretty picture of rental growth and investor appetite. That gloomy picture persisted in the national papers, with most picking up on Lloyds Banking Group’s warning that house prices would continue to fall until 2025, dropping by 4.7% this year and 2.4% next year. Those declining values aren’t enough to stimulate action, however, with figures from RBC predicting that the UK’s biggest housebuilders will see completions fall by 18,000 this year.  If you feel like you need a little pick-me-up for your morning commute, why not sit back and have a nose around the homes shortlisted for RIBA’s House of the Year or get your positivity fix in this week’s EG Magazine editor’s comment. All of this morning’s headlines: REIT exit plan for MailboxUK investment volumes tumble by 45%The gloom or the glitz?RivingtonHark briefed on Tunbridge Wells mallCorporate cash flow pressures keep surveyors gloomy on commercial outlookTop agents revealed in latest EG Radius LeaderboardsHouse prices to fall until 2025, says LloydsCan the towns fund really save our high streets?Heseltine reveals unusual method of establishing new countiesIs London “clobbering” New York?Completions set to tumble as housing market hammeredPizza Express ponders Wagamama approachScots plan to double council tax on second homesCanada Israel set to get approval for £300m Stonebridge PlaceLendlease revises £1.9bn Birmingham Smithfield plansCBRE to manage next phase of £145 Stockport Exchange