MORNING NEWS: London office starts are still falling

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of real estate-relevant headlines from the national papers. The volume of new office projects started in London has continued to fall from the record highs set a year ago, despite new developments targeting the life sciences sector. Deloitte’s latest Office Crane Survey tracked new starts totalling 3.7m sq ft across 29 schemes between April and September. Life sciences accounted for a third of all new construction by volume. Caroline Waldock, partner and real estate lead at Deloitte, said activity from the sector would “reinvigorate quieter markets in the short-term” but cautioned that demand for this type of space was less certain. A trio of key individuals have left proptech heavyweights PiLabs and VTS as the funding market remains challenging. Oxford professor and Newcore Capital chair Andrew Baum, who joined PiLabs as research and strategy partner in 2021, has stepped down from the business, while Henry Martin, who was business development manager at PiLabs for more than four years, has quit to join rival VC Fuel Ventures. Elsewhere, Charlie Wade has quit US-based proptech firm VTS after almost a decade with the business. Wade was poached by VTS from JLL in 2015 to launch its business in the UK. The real estate industry is failing to do enough or move quickly enough to shrug off its very real perception of being overwhelmingly male, white and privileged. That was the finding of the latest industry EDI survey by Real Estate Balance. The survey, which collected responses from 50 REB member organisations and 796 individuals, makes for depressing reading. “It’s hard not to be disheartened by some of the results – particularly the gender balance at senior levels,” said Real Estate Balance managing director Sue Brown. “It’s clear we’ve still got more work to do in this area and we need to keep at it. But we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that the lived experiences of people working in our industry, and the culture of the industry itself, has changed dramatically over the past 10 years.” The chief executive of L&Q expects “global interest” for its private rented sector portfolio, put up for sale earlier this month. In her first interview since launching the sale, Fiona Fletcher-Smith told EG she made the decision to sell the housing association’s 3,147-strong portfolio to “make the business less complicated and get back its the core purpose”. L&Q hopes it can sell the portfolio for around £1.2bn. Alongside the operational PRS homes, which span 53 projects across London, the housing association is also looking to sell a pipeline of 2,150 homes. The goal is for both to end up with the same buyer.  There’s also news on bowling operator Lane7’s expansion plans; a £100m-plus BTR deal in Birmingham from Realstar; and Home REIT paying off its debts. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals: New office starts continue to fall despite life sciences boostKey names quit tech giantsPerception is reality: property is male, pale and poshEDITOR’S COMMENT: Male, pale and privileged: welcome to real estateAEW UK REIT sees property pressures easingHome REIT pays off debtL&Q boss expects ‘global interest’ in PRS portfolioLifestyle brand picks Spitalfields for office and flagship storeRealstar gets real on £100m Brum BTR purchaseLane7 to strike deals for 180,000 sq ft next yearWood Wharf PBSA tower plans turned downCOMMENT: AI in real estate still needs a human touchVolter raises $3.2m to accelerate solar energy generation for real estateBallymore and Hammerson get go-ahead for Bishopsgate GoodsyardRLAM and Graftongate buy £90m Teddington site for industrial makeoverBidwells takes larger Oxford office as part of growth strategyBarratt proposes 300 homes in High BarnetFabrix gets go-ahead for resi-led Elephant and Castle schemeSevenoaks gasholder site to be transformed into 136-home resi schemePennyfarthing to add 74 homes to New Forest’s Forde Valley schemeCatella raises £100m to invest in listed UK real estateAPC Series: The essentials of residential developmentUK house prices became slightly more affordable in 2024, Halifax saysBritain’s real black hole is the HS2 money pit (£)UK property worth £6bn bought using suspicious funds (£)Budget hits confidence of consumers and business (£)Brighton’s i360 tower facing closure as owner seeks rescue buyer (£)Pets at Home falls after cutting its annual profit outlook (£)