The London office market has ‘definitively turned’ as prime rents set to double February 27, 2025 Analysts have said the London office market has turned a corner after two major commercial real estate investors released positive results. Dewent London reported rental growth doubling to 4.3 per cent, the highest since 2016, and it expects estimated rental value growth – an estimate of the rent that a property could earn if it [...]
Unite’s sales boom as student housing demand shows no sign of slowing February 25, 2025 Unite Students has reported double-digit growth as demand for student housing continues to far outpace supply. The FTSE 100 firm, which owns and manages university housing, reported earnings of £213.8m for 2024 – up 16 per cent year on year. Rents grew by 8.2 per cent, the company said, with occupancy at 97.5 per cent. [...]
Springfield Properties: Revenue slumps as housing projects delayed February 17, 2025 Springfield Properties, one of Scotland’s leading housebuilders, has reported a 13 per cent drop in revenue to £105.6m for the first half of its 2025 financial year, reflecting a subdued housing market and delays in affordable housing projects. Despite the decline in revenue, the company posted a sharp increase in profitability, with adjusted profit before [...]
Home repossessions rise as higher interest rates bite borrowers February 10, 2025 The number of homeowners with mortgages facing repossession rose in the fourth quarter of 2024 as buyers struggled with higher interest rates. UK Finance figures show that repossessions rose 12 per cent in the last three months of 2024 compared to the previous year and were up 54 per cent yearly. Overall, 1,030 residential houses [...]
Government ‘grey belt’ reform is ‘somewhat rushed and incoherent’ February 5, 2025 In a letter to Angela Rayner, Lord Daniel Moylan, chair of the Built Environment Committee, raised a number of concerns with the government's so-called 'grey belt' policy.
‘Prohibitive building costs’ stunting UK growth projects – Deloitte February 4, 2025 “Prohibitive costs” involved in construction projects in major UK cities led to a sharp decline in the number of new developments breaking ground in 2024, according to a new report from Deloitte. Deloitte’s latest Regional Crane Surveys, which covers the central areas of Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, has revealed the number of new starts [...]
EY to relocate 1,200 employees to new city office February 3, 2025 Professional services giant EY has revealed plans to relocate 1,200 employees in Birmingham to a new office. The move, scheduled for 2026, will see staff switch from One Colmore Square to Three Chamberlain Square, which is part of the Paradise Birmingham development. EY has been based at its office at One Colmore Square for the [...]
Lloyds Banking Group unveils £200m plan for head office January 27, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group has unveiled £200m plans to transform the headquarters of Scottish Widows to become the giant’s main base in Scotland. The Port Hamilton building on Morrison Street, Edinburgh, is to be designed in partnership with Drum Property Group. Lloyds Banking Group employs around 10,000 people in the Scottish capital. Located in the city’s [...]
Andy Burnham wants Manchester to add an extra £13bn a year to the UK economy – this is how January 24, 2025 A decade-long plan to increase Greater Manchester’s contribution to the UK economy by £13bn a year has been unveiled by the region’s mayor, Andy Burnham. The proposal, which has been made public today, would see the “whole Greater Manchester system mobilised” to deliver £1bn of investment every year between now and 2035. Burnham has also [...]
Major lifeline for Wembley Park developer after huge losses January 23, 2025 The developer behind London’s Wembley Park transformation has secured a huge funding boost just months after losses of more than £700m were revealed. Quintain has completed the refinancing of London Designer Outlet and build-to-rent development Ferrum at the site with a £233.6m loan from Bank of America. The deal comes after City AM reported in [...]