‘Dearth of supply’ sees London office vacancies drop to lowest level since 2007 August 19, 2019 A supply starved market and weakened investment has led to vacancy rates in London offices falling to their lowest level since 2007, a new report has found. The amount of available office space in London has fallen 19 per cent over the past year, with vacancies in the City dropping 27 per cent, according to [...]
Safestore joins forces with Carlyle in Dutch takeover August 19, 2019 Safestore has joined forces with private equity giant Carlyle to buy a Dutch self-storage chain while making a £6.5m Heathrow acquisition by itself. The business will take a 20 per cent stake in M3 Self Storage for around €5m (£4.6m) when the deal is completed at the end of August. The deal, which is expected [...]
Sales tick up as pre-Brexit buying spree gives summer boost to housing market August 19, 2019 Househunters hoping to lock in a deal ahead of the government’s Brexit deadline have driven a surprise buying spree this summer, giving life to the property market’s quietest season of the year. Agreed house sales in August rose 6.1 per cent from the same month in 2018, rising to the highest level at this time [...]
Sajid Javid pledges £600m to housing project building 50,000 new homes August 17, 2019 Chancellor Sajid Javid has announced plans to make £600m available to help a project building 50,000 new homes by investing in the necessary infrastructure. It is the latest spending pledge by the government ahead of a budget in the autumn in which Javid will set out the government’s spending and taxation plans for the next [...]
Property legal Q&A: I own a flat with a share of freehold. Do I still need the landlord’s consent before I carry out structural works to my flat? August 17, 2019 The fact you own a share of freehold does not bypass the terms of your lease. When a person owns a lease and a share of freehold they effectively wear two hats: one as a leaseholder and the other as a joint owner of the freehold. When you acquire a share of freehold, the lease [...]
Why you should be worried about the rise of the Bank of Mum and Dad August 16, 2019 The yearning to own one’s home is as British as a piping hot cup of tea, cricket, or a traditional roast dinner, and the UK’s rates of ownership-occupancy have traditionally been among the highest in Europe. Unlike many traditions, this desire hasn’t been dented by the complexities of modern life either. One recent survey revealed [...]
Belgravia’s billionaire strip: London’s new hotspot has £1.4bn property pipeline August 15, 2019 A strip of prime property in East Belgravia is undergoing a development boom with £1.4bn of investment in luxury homes and hotels in the pipeline, according to a new report. The plot of land between Upper Belgrave Street and Grosvenor Place, dubbed the billionaire’s strip, has been earmarked for private mansions, penthouses and VIP clubs. [...]
Wework lost $700m in first half, pre-IPO filing shows August 14, 2019 Wework lost nearly $700m (£580m) in the first half of the financial year, even as revenue doubled, the company announced in its first detailed financial results yesterday. The company, the listing of which next month is expected to value the business in the tens of billions, said it has no plans to start paying dividends [...]
London house prices continue to slide under Brexit pressure August 14, 2019 London house prices have continued their slide with a year-on-year fall of 2.7 per cent in June, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed today. Read more: London house prices suffer worst plunge in 10 years The figure marked a slowdown from the 3.1 per cent drop seen in May, however, which was [...]
Canary Wharf veteran George Iacobescu to step down as chief executive August 14, 2019 The man who spearheaded Canary Wharf’s transformation from an abandoned dockyards to a thriving financial hub is to stand down as chief executive of the site’s owners after over two decades in the role, but will stay on as chairman of the company. Sir George Iacobescu, who is currently both chief executive and chairman of [...]