Diary will not pretend to fully understand the appeal of non-fungible tokens or cryptocurrency (though one supposes that anything is preferable to pounds sterling right now). However, we know enough to understand a lot of people do get excited about these things. People like the property consultants at West London City Lets, which has launched a whole new sub-agency, Tokenized Properties, as what it claims is “the first UK property company to support the sale of physical land through an NFT”.
It also trumpets that the sale of a prime beachfront plot on the south coast of England with a reserve price of £1.9m in cryptocurrency is “the first time this style of land sale has taken place in the UK”. Apparently, selling the land as an NFT “eliminates the bureaucracy involved in standard property transactions” – and Diary certainly can see the appeal of that.
There is a complicated explanation involving “asset passports”, “smart contracts” and an “innovative transfer mechanism” that allows investors to swap an NFT with a “physical high-value utility”, but basically it seems that you spend big on something that doesn’t really exist, and once you own that you can take possession of something that does (the highly desirable 2,680 sq m plot in Milford-on-Sea in Lymington, Hampshire) for a token fee of £1 (which gets more like a peppercorn with each passing day).
From non-fungible, to very fungible – sounds fun.
Where’s Wally?
Would you believe, stuck in a lift? One of the most tedious things for tenants in tall BTR towers is waiting patiently for the building’s elevators. Thankfully, City & Docklands has come up with an innovative way to enliven their residents’ wait times by posting puzzles, including Where’s Wally? drawings, maths quizzes and word games. The first resident to solve the weekly challenge gets £10 off their rent for the month. You’d have to be a Wally not to have a go.
The Poseidon venture
Public art has become a staple of residential developments in recent years. Developers are increasingly working with local artists and designers to influence the design of their developments. One of the most pleasing partnerships in the sphere is Socius partnering with local artist Cosmo Sarson, who created this epic mosaic tile artwork of Poseidon for the side of its £120m Edward Street Quarter BTR scheme. Diary is a sucker for a bit of Greek mythology, and is in awe of the scale of this work, truly befitting the son of a Titan. Socius redeveloped the former Amex House site into a mixed-use development and Poseidon, trident in hand, serves as a powerful landmark for the scheme located in Brighton’s LGBTQ area. The developer has also commissioned a whale bone structure to decorate the entrance to the development, a choice which would doubtless win the approval of the god of the sea.
A right royal treat
The latest e-mail newsletter from John Forbes Consulting is filled with highlights – from a photo of a Second World War bomber, the Short Stirling (see what they did there?) to comparisons between the current state of the UK economy and John’s experience of the rouble devaluation while he worked at PwC in Russia in 1998, which paved the way for Vladimir Putin. “We hope that the consequences of the mini not-a-budget are less dramatic,” the missive quips. Best of all, the firm offers a bit of historical trivia that it fears may see them all sent to the Tower of London – a rundown of monarchs around the world who have laid previous claim to the title Charles III. These include such luminaries as Charles the Fat (emperor of the Carolingian Empire), Charles the Simple (king of West Francia and Lotharingia) and Charles the Short (king of Naples). It’s not all bad though, there was also Charles the Noble (king of Navarre), not one but two Charles IIIs of Spain (it’s complicated), Charles II of England and Scotland (affectionately known as Charles III by his mistress, Nell Gwynn, due to her earlier dalliances with men of the same name) and Bonnie Prince Charlie, seen by some as the rightful third. Fingers crossed they’re still free to send the next newsletter… or, at least, that the Tower has WiFi.
Better the devil you know?
“The next Labour government will scrap business rates altogether!” roared shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves at this week’s Labour Party conference. Or was it last year’s? Turns out, it was both. Back then, the policy was not greeted with the universal cheer Reeves may have been hoping for. After all, everyone hates the rates system, don’t they? “Well, yes,” Colliers rates guru John Webber told us at the time. “But what if what replaces it is worse?” Surely not?! This year Reeves’ battle cry was the same: “We will abolish business rates and replace them with a fairer system fit for the 21st century.” But it seems “abolish” now actually means “fundamentally reform”. Probably. The nod and wink from Labour would seem to say so, but there is another possibility being mooted. Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen… land value taxation!
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