British Land boosted by reopening of retail stores July 1, 2020 Real estate firm British Land has reported strong sales as lockdown restrictions on non-essential retail started to ease earlier this month. The pandemic seems to have had little effect on consumer confidence. In the week commencing 14 June, when restrictions started to ease, British Land reported footfall at its English assets was 64 per cent [...]
Boris Johnson’s New Deal: PM invokes Roosevelt in ‘radical’ infrastructure overhaul June 30, 2020 Boris Johnson has today set out plans to overhaul the UK’s planning system, to make building new homes easier, in order to fix what he termed “intergenerational injustices” in access to property. The overhaul will allow developers to change the use of buildings and land in town centres without planning permission, meaning that vacant buildings [...]
Redrow anticipates turnover to drop by more than a third June 30, 2020 Housebuilder Redrow expects turnover to drop more than a third this year, as the closure of its sites during lockdown had a “profound” impact on business. The figures In a trading update for the year ended 28 June, Redrow said turnover is expected to fall from £2.11bn last year to £1.34bn. The group’s completions also [...]
Shard developer accused of ‘vandalising’ Bermondsey property to earn planning permission June 29, 2020 A row over a Bermondsey development has escalated with local campaigners alleging that Shard developer Sellar has “vandalised” a heritage building to earn planning permission. The Old Bermondsey Forum (OBF) and the Bermondsey Village Action Group (BVAG) are accusing Sellar of tearing out a hydraulic hoist from a historic warehouse in Vinegar Yard, near London [...]
Exclusive: London firms revolt over business rates payments during lockdown June 29, 2020 Tens of thousands of London companies are believed to be mutinying against the taxman by refusing to pay business rates for the three months of the coronavirus lockdown. In light of the pandemic, the government has handed firms in the retail and tourism sectors a year-long holiday on the tax, which is applied to companies’ [...]
Tony Pidgley, self-made co-founder of FTSE 100 homebuilder Berkeley, dies at 72 June 27, 2020 British homebuilder Berkeley Group has said its chairman and co-founder, Tony Pidgley, died suddenly on Friday, aged 72. “He died of a stroke, he was working yesterday and went to (the) hospital last night and then sadly passed away earlier today,” a company spokesman told Reuters. Pidgley helped set up Berkeley Group in 1976 and [...]
Intu falls into administration after lender talks fall through June 26, 2020 Retail landlord Intu has fallen into administration after lenders failed to agree to last-minute relief on the company’s debt obligations today. Intu’s failure to raise new capital means KPMG will now step in to handle its administration. Adminstrators James Tucker, Michael Pink and David PIke will lead the process. Intu’s shares have now been suspended [...]
DEBATE: Will a fall in house prices be good for young people? June 26, 2020 Will a fall in house prices be good for young people? Matthew Addison, chief executive at StepLadder, says YES. Given that we still aren’t building enough homes to satisfy demand as a nation, it is incredibly important for this finite supply to be allocated in a way that works equitably. This hasn’t been the experience [...]
Intu ready to call in the administrators as funding talks fail June 26, 2020 Intu said it is set to call in administrators today after cliff-edge negotiations with lenders failed to secure its future. The retail landlord said “unfortunately, insufficient alignment and agreement has been achieved” with key creditors on a standstill on loan repayments, ahead of its debt waiver period expiring at midnight tonight. Intu was already suffering [...]
Retailers pay less than 15 per cent of rent for June quarter as property crisis deepens June 25, 2020 Britain’s retailers paid just 13.8 per cent of their rent for the last quarter, in a sign of how hard the coronavirus pandemic has hit the sector. Rent receipts on 24 June, the day commercial tenants’ payments were due for the quarter, were even lower than those three months ago, according to commercial property management [...]
