Good morning. On the morning after the chancellor’s mini-budget…
Critics say the chancellor’s stamp duty holiday(£) will do little to “kick-start the housing market”. They claim it will simply help BTL landlords and second home owners(£)…
… As the current mortgage drought(£) will prevent those without deep pockets from being able to buy anyway.
U+I’s share price(£) fell to a five-year low yesterday as markets slump despite the chancellor’s latest bailouts…
… as Britain’s public borrowing rises(£) to more than £350bn.
Housing associations Notting Hill Genesis and A2Dominion have put three London development blocks up for sale for more than £180m, as the shared ownership market flounders.
Brighton & Hove has approved its first co-living development with Brundell Property Group’s Melbourne Street scheme.
And the number of homes on the market has stayed near record lows(£), despite the booming demand…
… Which has led some experts to say that what we really need is a stamp duty holiday!
The hospitality industry(£) has meanwhile welcomed Rishi Sunak’s £500m “eat out to help out” vouchers.
(Of course, those vouchers won’t actually be vouchers. And nor are the £3bn vouchers(£) to make your homes greener(£). Makes you wonder why they keep using the word ‘voucher’?)
The founder of Auriens, Johnny Sandelson, has left the luxury senior living developer. He has sold his stake to Zenprop.
An area of countryside the size of Cornwall(£) has been gobbled up by development over the last 25 years.
But at least future development might be smarter, as WiredScore assembles the world’s first smart buildings council. Clever, huh?
There are Abstract plans for a £200m office scheme near Cambridge…
BT has added Dundee to its growing list of possible hub locations.
And Segro has collected an impressive 93% of rents(£) for this quarter. (But not as impressive as Tritax.)
As some well-healed retailers continue to take advantage of the “can pay, won’t pay” moratorium on rents, which looks set to be extended again…
… EG’s editor makes a plea for government to take control. It is understandable to make mistakes in the first three months, but now the imbalance has to stop.
Graffiti found on a roof timber at Wentworth Woodhouse(£) shows that builders were belly-aching about their bosses even back in 1830…
An 87-year-old Indian princess is continuing her 28-year fight over her father’s will, despite having already won a third share of his palace(£). She now wants to prove that he did love her, after all. Sob.
Saudi Arabia has opened the world’s largest camel hospital(£). Yep, for camels.
And finally, Italy has announced a major €200bn building programme to battle the coronarecession. Included in the list of 130 projects that will be fast-tracked is the Vigna Clara train station. Visitors to Rome may know the station, which opened to huge fanfare in 1990. That was before engineers spotted that the connecting tunnel was too narrow to allow trains through and it promptly closed for the next 30 years. The car park is currently a fruit and vegetable market and café tables occupy the station entrance. As Marta Spada, 77, who has run the café outside Vigna Clara station for 13 years, said: “I will believe the station is open when I see the first train pull in.”
