Urban regeneration specialist Argent Related’s first ever hoarding has started to go up in Tottenham Hale, but the full install has been stymied by a somewhat surprising rival: the TV phenomenon that is Love Island.
Argent Related opted for eye-catching pink to mark its development, only to discover that the UK’s three providers of fluorescent pink vinyl (ordinarily, one might assume, a fairly niche market) have had their stockpiles requisitioned for use on the many accessories sold by the reality show’s online store.
Surely there is some kind of branding synergy crying out to be exploited.
Blue-sky thinking
The sun has been shining, the temperatures have been soaring and, it seems, office bosses are looking to make the most of summer while it is here.
According to a report from Hubble and JLL (which technically compares data between 2017 and 2018, but let’s not let that ruin the narrative) office roof terraces are the hot new thing, with a remarkable 238% increase in businesses looking for premises with this feature.
Apparently, impressive roof terraces can deliver that “wow factor” that firms are looking for. Other facilities on the rise include pet-friendly offices (14% up), fruit and snacks (11%) and a gym (11%) – but they all live buried in the shadow of the all-conquering roof terrace, an outside space that is most definitely in.
Diary makes no claim to be a trendsetter, but we did print a photo of or own new terrace just five weeks ago. Fingers crossed that pets will be EG’s next workplace innovation.
Ain’t afraid of no ghost
Diary loves a good haunted house but apparently that’s not what estate agent Savoy Stewart wanted to talk about when it e-mailed us about so-called “property ghosting” – a pastime that, it seems, “nearly half of Brits” confess to indulging in at least once a month.
For those unfamiliar, “ghosting” is the term coined in the dating and social media world to describe the act of cutting all communication with someone, with zero warning or explanation.
“Property ghosters”, Savoy Stewart helpfully explains, “are defined as people who show an interest in a property/properties and then unexpectedly ‘ghost’ the estate agent, vendor or seller.”
Its survey results reveal that “a staggering 96% of Brits admitted to browsing properties despite having no intention of moving or buying”, with 76% stating that their main intention was simply to “be nosey/have a look around”. Some 48% said they would do this at least once a month, “searching for properties out of their price range and with high-spec features”.
Popular features for these window-shoppers include a swimming pool, home gym and a property “having previously been owned by a celebrity”.
Service charge?
It’s Wimbledon time again, and letting platform Bunk won this year’s race to find a property angle on the tennis.
It looked at the cost of renting an apartment around each of the sport’s four Grand Slam venues to find out how much a “tennis super fan” would have to pay to reside within racquet’s reach.
And, while we here in the UK may consider Wimbledon the most prestigious of the majors, it turns out that it isn’t top of the pile when it comes to expensive locations.
That distinction goes to the US Open, played at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York, where the average rental cost for an apartment is £1,535 per month. Wimbledon comes in second (£1,475), the French Open (held in Paris) in third (£1,285) and the Australian Open (in Melbourne) is the most affordable, with the local Southbank neighbourhood costing a mere £968 a month.
What Bunk didn’t calculate (but Diary just scribbled on the back of an envelope) is that any leading tennis superstar could shell out a total of £4,103 a month to make sure they have a convenient courtside residence for all four slams.
And with even a first-round loser at Wimbledon netting £45,000, they could pay almost a whole year’s rent with one match. That’s pretty ace.
Ee bah gazump!
The South Yorkshire city of Sheffield has been revealed as the gazumping capital of England, according to research by no less than TV’s Phil Spencer. Well, his home movers’ site Move iQ in conjunction with proptech firm Gazeal, at any rate.
They analysed more than 1m property transactions and found that the steel city is the location, location, location where would-be buyers get outbid most often.
More than one-third get gazumped or, as Move iQ and Gazeal cheekily put it: “The Full Monty city’s booming property market is forcing up prices by 7% a year but intense competition stops 35% of buyers from going all the way.”
Other gazumping hotspots include Maidstone, Cambridge, Birmingham and Manchester. But if you have an offer in on a place in Carlisle, you can rest relatively easy, as there’s only a 5% chance you’ll get trumped.
