On hearing that Guy Grainger was heading out to Davos last week, Diary laid down a challenge to JLL’s chief executive of EMEA: get yourself a selfie with the highest-profile attendee that you can.
After last year’s World Economic Forum, there were rumours that a colleague had bagged a pic with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Could Grainger beat that? A “here today, gone tomorrow” politician clearly wouldn’t be enough, nor a Bono, a Prince William or even a David Attenborough, all of whom were in town for the forum. “How about meeting the guy who invented the Internet?” Grainger asks Diary via Twitter. “Tim Berners-Lee: Humble, engaging and in his words… ‘We still have a lot of work to do’.”
All right, Guy, you win.
Tech-savvy seniors
Last week, Diary dropped in to see the new Central Library Oodi in the Finnish capital of Helsinki and we can report it is quite the masterclass in civic placemaking. From 3D printers to co-working and from Xbox gaming rooms to a recording studio, there is something for everyone. “We even have classes run by retirees for other retirees,” said librarian Severi Hirvi on a tour of the space. “We get tech-savvy older people to come in to teach their peers – usually who might not be as in the know – how to use modern devices and technology.” Those who can, teach tech (see p40 for an inside look at the Oodi).
The colour of Brexit
Notable economist Sony Kapoor took to the stage at last week’s IPF lunch at the London Hilton on Park Lane, to share his thoughts on investment prospects in the world economy – and Brexit. He began by polling the room on whether their favourite colour was black, or pink/yellow/blue. Only two people raised their hands for black. “The Brexit vote was, ‘do you want to stay in the EU?’,” he explained. “A tangible real option that exists: is your favourite colour black? Or, the unicorn option – yellow, white, pink. A new breed of colour – do you want to exit? Whatever your fantasy, whatever your fetish. Brexit will cater to that.” Kapoor went on to deliver a scathing critique of Theresa May’s decisions, before ultimately concluding that he would “eat his hat” if there was any Brexit, let alone a no-deal Brexit. The room erupted in rapturous applause – apart from one notably quiet table near the front, where the likes of noted Brexiteers Nick Leslau and Graham Chase, senior partner of the lunch’s sponsor, Chase & Partners, coolly sat. Oops.
The auction racquet
John Barnett, he of Barnett Ross fame, is a bit of a whizz with a gavel. Within these very pages we have tales of his prowess in an auction room – but does he have the same skills with a racquet? Turns out he does – he and doubles partner Richard Rowlandson, chair of RO Property Group (pictured, to the right of Barnett), took first place in the over-80s British indoor tennis championships, smashing their opponents in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. Ace! In the singles, however, Barnett confesses he was “the losing underbidder”.
Letter to the editor
EG doesn’t get real letters much any more. We have a few friends of the magazine that we enjoy a handwritten note from, and occasionally an official-looking letter by email, but most of our communication now is via Twitter and LinkedIn. Who said real estate isn’t up to speed with tech? This lack of “real” letters means we rarely devote a page in the magazine to them, which can be frustrating to some of our most loyal devotees. So, with the greatest of apologies to Mr George Bednar, a long‑term EG reader, for the several-week delay, we hereby pay tribute to his letter – a response to one of our legal writers on the reform of the valuation of residential lease extensions. While space does not permit us to run it in full, we hope these extracts do Mr Bednar proud and elicit a response from EG contributor Nicola Muir:
“The Housing Act 1988 came into force 30 years ago. Should the government decide to legislate on longer tenancies in the private rented sector later this year, related provisions of the 1988 Act could be affected. As a former co-plaintiff in a contested county court case, I have been asking the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to review the so-called Resident Landlord Provisions of the 1988 Act. In England, due to an oversight highlighted in 1974, there are still no provisions to enable non-resident trustees to grant first tenancies in a tenanted trust property occupied solely by statutory beneficiaries. Where a statutory beneficiary is in occupation, the government should legislate to enable non-resident trustees to grant first tenancies in the tenanted trust property, and safeguard the resident beneficiary’s personal privilege.”
Mr Bednar, it has been a personal privilege.
Read the original article at www.egi.co.uk/legal/valuation-under-evaluation-proposals-for-reform/
