Grenfell: Gove tells dodgy developers ‘we are coming for you’ as they’re forced to foot the bill for cladding crisis January 10, 2022 Michael Gove has sent a stark warning to property developers that have profited from installing dangerous cladding, like that was used in the Grenfell tower, telling them that “we are coming for you” as he unveils his plan to make them pay for cladding refurbishments across the UK. Gove told MPs today that the burden [...]
Elephant and Castle redevelopment to progress to second phase after loan win January 10, 2022 The redevelopment of the former Elephant and Castle shopping centre has been given a boost after the securing of a development loan. Build-to-rent developer Get Living has acquired £365m from Starwood Capital, The Times reported. This will enable the second phase of the redevelopment, which is set to create 485 homes and a new campus [...]
Housebuilders’ share prices plunge as government cracks down on cladding crisis January 10, 2022 Homebuilders’ share prices tumbled on Monday as the government said it was prepared to force developers to pay for the removal of dangerous cladding. Housing minister Michael Gove has handed builders a March deadline to agree a plan to protect leaseholders who cannot sell their homes due to their fire defects. Leaseholders have called on [...]
Retailers fighting for every inch of warehouse space as e-commerce boom rapidly increases storage shortage January 10, 2022 A surge in demand for logistics sites in 2021 is increasingly leading to a shortage of warehouse space, according to new data. Experts at real estate advisory firm Colliers said the take-up for large industrial distribution warehouses increased to record annual levels. Around 50.7 million sq ft of large distribution warehouses were snapped up in [...]
London sellers take home over £30bn in gross profit while seller gains decline January 10, 2022 London home sellers made a total gross profit of £30.96bn last year. However, weaker price growth meant that last year marked the first time since 2015 that London sellers made a gross gain less than £200k, Hamptons estate agents said. The average London seller sold their home for £197,730 more than they paid for it [...]
Homebuilder CALA anticipates revenue well above pre-pandemic levels January 10, 2022 Homebuilder CALA Group said it anticipates £1.25bn revenue, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. In unaudited results for the year to 31 December 2021, the homebuilder said it expected pre-tax profit of around £130m, an increase of 35 per cent on 2019. The Surrey-based firm reported 2,904 home completions, up 19 per cent on its 2019 total, and [...]
Cladding campaigners call for financial aid to cover remediation of other fire hazards January 9, 2022 Cladding campaigners have called on ministers to do more to help leaseholders of unsafe buildings facing “ruinous debts”. Housing minister Michael Gove is expected to announce tomorrow that leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18.5m in height will no longer be forced to take out personal loans to cover the cost of removing dangerous cladding. [...]
Just 12 tower blocks see dangerous cladding removed through £5bn fund January 7, 2022 Just 12 buildings have had dangerous cladding removed with the aid of a £5bn government fund, which was created to fix thousands of risky tower blocks. The Building Safety Fund was created in 2020 to help residents of blocks more than 18 metres tall with the removal of a certain type of hazardous cladding. Some [...]
House prices hit record high of £276k as slower growth forecast for 2022 January 7, 2022 House prices increased by more than £24,500 last year, the largest annual cash rise since March 2003. The average UK property price reached a new record high of £276,091 in 2021, rising 9.8 per cent, according to Halifax’s House Price Index. Once more, London was the weakest performing region for annual inflation by long way [...]
Build-to-Rent investment soars to record high in 2021 January 6, 2022 Investment into the UK’s build-to-rent sector hit £2.1bn in the last quarter of 2021 as the sector capped off another record year of investment. Investment soared to £2.1bn in the last three months of the year, taking the year to a record high of £4.1bn, according to preliminary data from global real estate advisor CBRE. [...]