Jefferies equity analysts Mike Prew and Andrew Gill see no great loss in the wilting of the Tulip, after London mayor Sadiq Khan overruled the City of London Corporation’s approval for the controversial 1,000 ft viewing tower.
Khan took issue with the design of the planned tower and its effect on the City skyline, the damage it would do to the protected views of the Tower of London, and the potential danger to pedestrians as crowds mill around the building.
Prew and Gill sound firmly on Khan’s side. “This tourist attraction was as ill-conceived as the Garden Bridge – the ‘Bridge of Sighs’ – Thames Crossing, which cost £53m before being aborted,” they wrote in their weekly round-up of real estate news.
Of course, you can rely on the ever-contrary Jefferies analysts to have an alternative suggestion ready as to what infrastructure problems really need attention: “In our view, the money could have been better spent on a tunnel from Hammersmith to Barnes now that the Hammersmith Bridge appears to be closed indefinitely.”
Behind that famous front door
As the country waited for confirmation of the new prime minister on Tuesday, Centre for London’s Jack Brown (@jackwbrown) took to Twitter to offer followers a history lesson of the building that Boris (come on, it was always going to be Boris) would move into.
In what also acted as a neat plug for his recently published No.10: The Geography of Power at Downing Street, Brown traced the building of No.10 by “perfidious rogue” Sir George Downing in the 1680s through to its current form, created by knocking together three separate buildings.
As Brown noted, Tony Blair set the current precedent for PMs to live in a larger flat above No.11, and for chancellors to live above No.10. “The two buildings are joined internally, and it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins once inside,” Brown added.
But what really piqued Diary’s interest was the passing mention of a small cottage that was knocked into the current No.10 back in 1735, home to a resident “about whom little is known bar his name” – Mr Chicken.
From Hollywood to Holland Park
Action! Analysts at Knight Frank say they have seen a marked upturn over the past year in the number of short-term lettings of luxury properties in London and the home counties from actors as well as crew and production staff working on TV shows and movies. In fact, the number of lettings has close to doubled.
Stevie Walmesley, Knight Frank’s head of luxury short lets, reckons property owners are increasingly comfortable with the idea of renting out their space for a short period, and that film and TV workers are “considerate tenants” that spend a lot of time on set, “which reduces wear and tear”. (Sure, Stevie, you rarely hear stories of actors trashing hotel rooms, do you?)
The agency’s analysts say tax relief has acted as a boost to the British film industry in recent years, with a weaker pound only adding to the attraction of the UK for overseas capital.
So where should you be hanging out for celeb spotting? Knight Frank sees Notting Hill and Holland Park as the most in-demand neighbourhoods, followed by Hampstead, Belsize Park, Richmond and Kensington. Let Diary know who you see.
New place like home
Homes England has long championed the use of modern methods of construction as it looks to disrupt the housing market and deliver more homes, faster. Thankfully, as it moves to a new south eastern base, it is putting its money where its mouth is.
No city centre ivory tower, its new regional base will be Northstowe to the north of Cambridge, which, when complete, will be the UK’s largest new town since Milton Keynes. Some 10,000 new homes are in the pipeline.
Homes England’s new two-storey office is currently under construction and is being built using a full modular system. We know, because the agency tells us, modular reduces construction time and disruption.
More excitingly, it also means the building can be removed and re-used elsewhere. How very modern.
Farewell Waitrose
Rarely does news hit so hard, or so close to home. As Waitrose revealed details of its latest stores to close, Diary was horrified to scan EG’s coverage of the list only to see its own local Waitrose, in Bromley, was among the casualties.
With a four-year-old addicted to Waitrose gingerbread men, plans to hoard the treats have been put into action with a focus more commonly associated with Brexit stockpiling. The silver lining? The store is being taken over by Lidl, and the iced doughnuts from there are pretty good too.
Swear on it
The property consultant formerly known as Malcolm Hollis is drumming a recent change of identity into staff (it dropped the Malcolm). That’s not always an easy task given how attached people become to a name, but Hollis has found a neat way of doing so at the same time as doing some good.
The firm has set up a charity swear box for employees to use. Each time someone slips up and says Malcolm Hollis instead of Hollis, they have to cough up. The initiative has so far raised £175 for the company’s charity of the year, Acorn Children’s Hospice.
