14 political moments
1 Bacon-sandwich gate: The unedifying shots of Labour leader Ed Miliband awkwardly devouring a bacon sandwich are seized upon as a symbol of him being unable to hold higher political office
2 David Cameron reshuffles cabinet: His preparation for the general election sees unpopular ministers out and more voter-friendly ones in
3 Boris to stand: London mayor Boris Johnson ends speculation by confirming that he will stand as an MP in the General Election
4 Miliband takes on Myleene: Labour proposes its own version of the Mansion Tax and faces the wrath of popstar Myleene Klass
5 Scots vote No: After losing the referendum, SNP leader Alex Salmond steps down and Nicola Sturgeon steps in
6 MIPIM mud-slinging: Delegates at the inaugural MIPIM UK conference in London are pelted with mud and verbally abused by anti-development protestors
7 New tax-raising powers promised to Scotland: But the SNP is unimpressed
8 EU row heats up: Cameron and Osborne square up to the EU over the UK’s increased rebate. While they claim victory, critics point to the hollow success of still having to pay more and in two tranches
9 UKIP gets respect: two UKIP MPs are elected following defections and by-elections in Clacton and Rochester & Stroud. The party is now seen as a serious political contender; Nigel Farage is to appear in the debates for the election
10 Lib Dems lose: The Liberal Democrats lose their deposit for the 11th time since 2010 at the Rochester & Stroud by-election, the worst-ever result for a major party at a by-election
11 Manchester powers up: The city strikes a devolution deal with the government, giving it more control over transport, planning and housing
12 Immigration takes centre stage: The parties react to UKIP’s electoral success. The Tories kick off with an attack on migrants’ benefits, putting them on another collision course with the EU
13 Miser-gate: Lib Dem Treasury minister Danny Alexander reveals that chancellor Osborne keeps his milk locked in the Treasury fridge, for his use only
14 Stamp duties: Osborne responds to the mansion tax melee by reforming stamp duty in the Autumn Statement
14 headline makers
1 Liz Peace, former BPF Chair
2 Lord Michael Heseltine
3 Sam Vasili, Google’s new real estate analyst
4 Amancio Ortega, Zara boss and richest man in property
5 Daniel Van Gelder, co-founder of Exemplar and chair of WPA
6 Juliette Morgan, Cushman & Wakefield partner and general queen of tech
7 Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
8 Rohan Silva, founder of Second Home
9 Sir Albert Bore and Waheed Nazir, brokers of the HS2 deal in Birmingham
10 Ian Hawkesworth, chief executive of Capital & Counties
11 Richard Margree, chief executive of developer Knight Dragon
12 Sue Bruce, chief executive of Edinburgh council
13 Alison Nimmo, chief executive of The Crown Estate
14 Tim Lowe, Lowe Cost Living nomad
14 entrepreneurs, start-ups, programmes and innovators disrupting the property sector over the past 12 months
1 Reza Merchant, The Collective
2 Charlie Vaughan-Leigh, Student Cribs
3 The Cognicity accelerator programme, Level39
4 The Pilabs accelerator programme, Second Home
5 Robert Luck and Krishan Pattni, Latis Homes
6 Ed Marsh and Tom Mees, FRT Developments
7 Rob Ellice, easyproperty
8 Rachel Bagenal, Naked House
9 Liane Hartley, Mend London
10 James Morris-Manual, Inspired Labs
11 Rajeev Naayer, Fixflo
12 Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen Systems
13 Rayhan Rafiq Omar, GetAgent
14 Nick Katz, Locatable
14 arrivals
1 TIAA Henderson Real Estate: Henderson Global Investors’ and TIAA-CREF’s global property tie-up came into existence in April
2 PRS: Talked about for many years, PRS made its mark as the sector to watch over the past 12 months
3 Student accommodation: 2014 confirmed the sector’s transformation from alternative to mainstream asset
4 Derivatives 2.0: The much-derided Commercial Mortgage Backed Securitisation sputtered back into life this year
5 Distressed purchasers: A sure sign things were on the up this year was the return of buzzword “distressed purchasers” to describe those cash-rich funds which have come under huge pressure to invest
6 The Taiwanese: The latest wave of international investors to wash up in the capital this year, with Cathay Life and Fubon Life completing high-profile debut deals
7 Annie Hampson: The City’s new planning officer, who replaced Peter Rees
8 Double-dipping standards: The IPF acted on concerns about agent’s double-dipping with a new set of guidelines issued last month
9 Oxenwood: Launched by former London Stamford duo Jeremy Bishop and Stewart Little this year
10 Return of the real estate IPO: Including Kennedy Wilson’s £1bn listed vehicle
11 Non-bank lenders: In 2014 the debt funds, insurers, bridging lenders and peer to peers made their presence known like never before
12 The humble shed: Arguably the stand-out asset class of 2014
13 REcore: West End investment specialist Jonathan Evans and former LandSec colleague Richard Linnell announced plans to launch a £400m London office fund at MIPIM this
year
14 Samantha McClary: At MIPIM UK after her insane 15-day, 1,200-mile Challenge running and cycling across the UK to raise money for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
emily.wright@estatesgazette.com
Review of the year 2014:
