Insurer Beazley becomes second tenant in City skyscraper Twentytwo October 10, 2018 The City's tallest skyscraper has landed its second major tenant – specialist insurer Beazley – in a sign of the bumper year for insurance take-up in the Square Mile. City A.M. can reveal the FTSE 250 insurer is set to take 50,000 square feet (sq ft) over two floors at 22 Bishopsgate when construction is finished [...]
Canary Wharf unveils plans for tech hub in major business district development October 9, 2018 Plans to develop Canary Wharf into London’s largest tech and creative cluster were unveiled today, with the business district looking to attract fast-growth firms in a bid to create 20,000 new jobs. A new 23-acre quarter named Wood Wharf is looking to lure in “a larger number of tech jobs than in the entire city [...]
One Hyde Park flat becomes Britain’s most expensive home after £160m sale October 9, 2018 A penthouse apartment in the luxury One Hyde Park development has become Britain's most expensive home after being sold for £160m. The penthouse apartment in the Candy brothers' high-end London block was bought for the record amount in May, Land Registry documents revealed. It was sold to two offshore companies PHB London Holdings Ltd and PHB [...]
Live and Let Buy: Former spy HQ put on the market October 9, 2018 It was once home to British spies hoping to crack enemy codes. Now, the former MI6 London headquarters is being put up for sale as a commercial office space. Located in the heart of Westminster, the townhouse at 21 Queen Anne’s Gate is touting businesses after three centuries of residency that saw it house aristocrats, artists [...]
Foxtons closes flagship Park Lane office amid property market slump October 9, 2018 Estate agent Foxtons is closing its Park Lane flagship office amid a London property market slump. Staff will be moved to the Marylebone office where they will continue to cover Mayfair and Central London. Read more: Property bosses cull delivery vans in bid to protect London business The estate agent, which has 65 branches in [...]
Commercial real estate might be reliably disinteresting now, but don’t get too cosy October 9, 2018 At a time of political and market turbulence in the UK, there is one area where we’ve seen relative stability. Commercial real estate data in recent months has been fairly constant, with no significant changes to the outlook. The returns for commercial real estate have remained disappointing relative to recent years, yet there has been [...]
DEBATE: Would a scheme encouraging landlords to sell to private renters help solve the housing crisis? October 9, 2018 Would a scheme encouraging landlords to sell to private renters help solve the housing crisis? Will Tanner, director of Onward, says YES. Britain’s housing market has many flaws, but one of its most pernicious is the never-ending treadmill of private renting. The average renter in London today spends 40 per cent of their post-tax income [...]
Robert Tchenguiz accuses Grant Thornton of conspiracy over fraud office probe October 8, 2018 Lawyers for property mogul Robert Tchenguiz today accused audit firm Grant Thornton of conspiring to persuade the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to launch an investigation into his business dealings with the Icelandic bank Kaupthing. The flamboyant millionaire was in a packed London courtroom to hear his Queen’s Counsel Stephen Rubin of Fountain Court accuse the [...]
Improbable unveils move to new London HQ October 8, 2018 A London-based virtual reality firm is to take up a new City headquarters, as it looks to accelerate its expansion ambitions following a wave of investments from abroad. Improbable, a games company that was founded six years ago, is moving its base from Farringdon to Spitalfields as part of a plan to accommodate its growing workforce, [...]
The death of nimbyism? Brits now support building in their back yard October 8, 2018 Brits support home-building in their areas and think that local house prices are too high, a new survey has found. Half of voters polled said they would support more houses near their home, while only a third were against. The poll, commissioned by the Centre for Policy Studies, also showed most Brits think house prices [...]