Good morning. Here’s your daily round up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals.
Sir James Dyson’s eponymous Dyson is opening a new £100m technology hub in Bristol.
The plans are part of a five-year £2.7bn investment drive that will also see the vacuum cleaner maker develop a battery plant in Singapore and £166m tech hub in the Philippines.
The firm, which already has operations in Bristol, said it had chosen the city for the new hub because of its “software and digital skills”.
The backlash against secretary of state Michael Gove continues, with the Home Builders Federation ploughing in following Berkeley Group’s strongly worded letter.
Berkeley Group wants Gove to reconsider his quashing of plans for a 165-home development in Kent.
The HPF claims Gove’s “personal intervention” will only further fuel the housing crisis.
In Birmingham, the demise of the office may be the solution to the housing crisis, with agents in the city seeing growing opportunities for workplaces to be converted for homes.
EG analysis shows a growing number of not quite fit-for-purpose office blocks being put up for sale with the potential for conversion.
“We have a lot of demand from developers looking for conversions,” said Will Jordan, head of Birmingham residential development at Knight Frank. “Developers like them as, depending on the stage of the building, build cost could be a lot less.
“Developers are looking for offices of less than 10,000 sq ft and all the way up to 60,000 sq ft. Value for residential is better than commercial office values [now] – that is the tipping point.”
And don’t forget the biggest news of the day, EG has extended the deadline to enter this year’s EG Awards until 20 May. Entry is free and there are some 20 categories to enter, including Deal of the Year, the Sustainability Award, Company of the Year and the EG Tech Award. We are also looking for nominations for our Outstanding Individual trophy. Find out more about all the categories and how to enter here .
