Good morning,
Two of Home REIT’s largest tenants, Lotus Sanctuary and Gen Liv, have entered liquidation. The two account for almost 20% of the embattled REIT’s rent roll.
The Times (£) takes a look at Chris Downing, the property entrepreneur at the heart of Home REIT’s property buying spree and its subsequent sorrows. “We purchase properties, mostly portfolios, we try and steal them and this is what I am good at,” he once said. “The things that I have done and seen have made me a deeply unpleasant person.”
And social housing tenants are being urged to complain about shoddy and dangerous housing in a new government advertising campaign.
A quarter of levelling up funding – close to £2.5bn – will go unspent this year as the department struggles with “delivery delays”.
A new initiative aims to connect real estate companies with London schools to encourage the next generation into the industry. The Makers & Mentors programme, set up by residential developer Mount Anvil, has launched the scheme, with backing from the Greater London Authority.
But the UK needs more than 100,000 new plumbers, electricians and carpenters a year for the next three decades to bring older buildings into the 21st century. A report, commissioned by the National Trust, the Crown Estate, Grosvenor, Peabody and other property groups, warns that skilled workers are needed for the £35bn retrofit “opportunity”.
Covid vaccine developer Moderna has chosen Harwell for its £150m Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre. The biotech company will take 145,000 sq ft across two buildings at the Oxfordshire campus.
As the prime minister says he is determined for the UK to become a “scientific superpower”, telling every part of the government to “get behind the mission”.
But Shell’s new chief executive has said planning delays make the UK far less attractive for energy investment than the US.
In other news, real estate law firm Maples Teesdale has appointed Paul Burke as managing partner. He will take over from Chris Wilkinson on 1 April.
LXi REIT has signed a new £150m loan facility and extended its HSBC loan.
LondonMetric has sold seven long-income assets for £33.9m, at a 4.5% net initial yield.
The government’s flagship pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 has been put on life-support by inflation.
WHSmith is opening new high-end gift and stationary shops as it moves into the space left by the demise of Paperchase.
And the latest episode of EG Like Sunday Morning discusses falling capital markets revenue, the allure of BTR and the charms of Cornwall.
