At Benham & Reeves, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Wimbledon is in full swing, and the agent was all set to serve and volley up pretty much the same press release as last year, comparing property prices across the world’s four Grand Slam locations. Hey, if you ace it once, why not twice?
Twelve months ago, a rather downbeat B&R noted that “Covid continues to hang over the UK like a rain cloud over Centre Court” and that the pandemic had taken its toll on values, but it has a much more sunny disposition this year. A heatwave and some strawberries and cream will work wonders, after all.
“Wimbledon is back to its brilliant best this year,” it tells us, adding that its research reveals that the All England Club tournament continues to “dominate its Grand Slam counterparts in the housing market as well as on the court”.
Sure, the French Open boasts the most expensive local homes (the average price in Paris’s 16th Arrondissement is an impressive £735,001) and the US Open has had the highest growth in the past year (27.6% around New York’s Flushing Meadows), but, according to patriotic B&R, “Wimbledon easily remains the most prestigious Grand Slam location in the world when it comes to the premium paid for properties in the surrounding area.” That’s because homes in the SW19 postcode are, on average, 23% more expensive than those in the wider borough of Merton – the cash equivalent of £129,658. Or just over what a third-round loser will take home in this year’s singles.
Sublime rhyme
Diary loves a bit of poetry, and is pleased to report that real estate has found its new laureate in Moorfield Group director Sadie Malim. Recently asked to deliver a pitch for Moorfield in just three minutes, which had to be amusing, Malim rose to the challenge – and thankfully shared the results on LinkedIn for us all to enjoy. Malim says: “I took the opportunity to have some fun with it… because life is too short not to seek fun in your day job!” That is a philosophy we can definitely get behind, especially when it provides the reason for some rhyme.
We don’t have room for the full 542-word opus – head to Malim’s LinkedIn page for that – but the opening sets the tone: “I’m here to tell you why investment in real estate funds is sound, There’s disruption from several directions and many opportunities abound. The inflation outlook is tricky right now, but one thing is certainly true, Real estate’s an inflationary hedge, and will outperform if you know what to do.”
There follows a potted (poetted?) history of Moorfield, in which one particular couplet stands out: “We’re the experts on residential to rent, having been in it for some time, We’ve built over 3,000 build-to-rent units and sold them for significant dime.” Beautifully done.
A red flag for the bull
The e-mail newsletter from John Forbes Consulting is always a welcome one in our inbox, but, having to wait longer than usual, we confess to being anxious that we had somehow dropped off the mailing list. Thankfully, the ping of the latest missive’s arrival put our fears to rest – and its introduction offered a colourful explanation for the problem:
“Welcome to our latest newsletter. We must apologise to those of you who missed out on the previous one as your diligent firewalls blocked it for including ‘profanity’. Our error was including the colloquial term for bovine excrement, which we now know is unacceptable to some firewall systems. We remain of the view that this is an essential piece of the vocabulary when commenting on current UK government policy announcements.”
Somehow, we don’t think they were using the word “cowpat”.
Superpower struggle
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? At the EG/Bidwells Creating a Scientific Superpower conference, the panel failed to agree on exactly what kind of superpower the UK is set to become.
“The tech sector has talent, capital and innovation,” said Kadans’ James Sheppard.
“Tech is going to continue to actually outpace life science,” added Oxford Properties’ Abby Shapiro.
But Michael Anstey, partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital took up the argument. “The UK has a much better chance of building the next $20bn life sciences company than a tech company,” he said. “I think the next Genentech or the next Amgen could actually be built in the UK, probably from the Golden Triangle.”
It’s like Batman v Superman, but much more entertaining.
Defying depravity
There are some ills in society even real estate can’t hope to tackle. Also speaking at the Creating a Scientific Superpower conference, Bidwells planning head Mike Derbyshire outlined the good that can be done in drawing in communities and addressing not only environmental, but also social issues. He highlighted where some of the areas around key Bidwells-advised schemes in and around Cambridge stand on deprivation indices. Only, that’s not quite how he put it. “It’s going into areas where there’s depravity,” he said, before quickly catching himself: “Not depravity! Deprivation is the right word. Depravity is – that’s my other presentation!” Next slide please!
Share your tales from the quirky side of the property industry by e-mailing diary@eg.co.uk
