Good morning. Here is your AM bulletin, with the latest news and views from EG, along with a few of the best bits from the morning papers.
The government’s flagship Renters’ Reform Bill, which would end “no-fault” evictions in England, has again been put on ice. The move has sparked a blame game in government over why it keeps being delayed, with accusation flying about “vested interests”.
Meanwhile, the prime minister and the chancellor are weighing up plans to hack off the northern leg of HS2. Downing Street appears to think the £34bn for the link between Birmingham, Manchester and the North East could be better spent elsewhere.
Mary Ricks has said she will retire as president of Kennedy Wilson after 33 years.
And EG finds out who Howard de Walden boss Mark Kildea admires and why. “He’s a very impressive individual,” he says. “He sort of made me feel like I was a pathetic chief executive.” Find out more in this week’s EG Interview.
The impact of millions of Britons working remotely will require a total rewiring of the country, both figuratively and literally.
Arrow Capital Partners has let its 186,000 sq ft net-zero shed in South Yorkshire.
And Lidl’s UK operation has suffered a £76m loss after focusing on expansion.
RICS fellow Anthony Walker argues that the time has come to change the way the professional body chooses its president. “If RICS members were involved in the election of those in the current presidential team – Gray, Paillet and Sullivan – the outcome may have been very different.”
Heritage groups have renewed efforts to block the redevelopment of Reading Gaol, after ministers confirmed it would be sold to an unknown bidder “later this autumn”.
And The Guardian‘s Simon Jenkins says developers are killing the high street, with a bit of help from the government.
