Good morning.
The BPF is calling on new housing secretary Michael Gove to exempt BTR from the new developer tax, which it describes as “penal”.
Meanwhile, some of the biggest names in UK real estate have written an open letter to the RICS urging it to grasp a “generational opportunity to modernise” in the wake of a corporate governance scandal.
Offshore investors in Evergrande(£) say they are yet to receive an $83.5m interest payment due on Thursday.
And The FT (£) says the collapse of Blackstone’s $3bn attempt to buy Soho China last week shows that, in China, everything is political – especially real estate.
But global stock markets have held firm, as the world braces for the potential collapse of Evergrande(£).
On the London exchange, shares in Civitas Social Housing REIT fell by 5% yesterday, despite refuting a scathing attack from short-seller ShadowFall. Capital & Regional, meanwhile, rose by 5.1%.
A rise in interest rates(£) could come as soon as February(£), as more MPC members vote for tougher measures against inflation.
Joe Garner is stepping down as chief executive of Nationwide(£), as Kevin Parry takes over as chair.
Jessica Tomlinson, Barclays Bank’s London head of real estate, today took over the role of current chair at CREFC Europe, the trade association for commercial property finance. Chris Bennett, head of DekaBank’s London branch, will be its next chair.
And former Lloyd’s of London head, Nick Prettejohn, will take over as chair of TSB(£).
Almost 3.5m homes in the UK are “practically unsellable” because of the risk of flooding, new figures reveal.
Labour is planning to steal the Conservatives’ title as “the party of homeownership” with a raft of policies this weekend.
Incidentally, in his 14,000-word essay on the future of the party, Sir Keir Starmer mentions “business” 29 times(£). Socialism isn’t mentioned once
US hedge fund Davidson Kempner is attempting to block a “legally questionable” capital increase(£), aimed at easing the €18bn merger of Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia.
Black Sheep Coffee(£) wants to nearly double its stores by February next year.
And finally, fans of Netflix’s archaeology film The Dig will be thrilled to hear that the movie’s stand-out star is for sale. No, not Carey Mulligan or Ralph Fiennes. The house Mulligan lives in. (Those who have seen the true story about the unearthing of the Sutton Hoo trove will know that the house is clearly the lead.) That role was played by the Grade II* listed, 11-bedroom Norney Grange(£) in Surrey, which has hit the market for a cool £8m. Of course, anyone buying the Arts and Crafts property could certainly rake some of that back – the house appears to be rather popular with location scouts, playing a role in everything from Marple to London Spy. In fact, it was chosen for its lead role in The Dig ahead of the real location – Tranmer House in Suffolk. Apparently that was deemed too plain for the movies.
