As politics descends ever further into playground farce, plumbing new depths with the row over televised debates, there is a need for some calm thinking all round. Not least in how property and politics interact.
Writing in EG this week, British Property Federation chief executive Melanie Leech says real estate is often misunderstood. She’s right. Comedian Eddie Izzard, who harbours serious political ambitions, attacked housing association Affinity Sutton this week for serving the “moneyocracy… dividing society”. Like Russell Brand before him (and, yes, Brand is a new entrant in our annual Power List) Izzard believes property is part of the problem, not the solution.
It’s not just wealthy comedians who subscribe to this view either. So it is good to see the BPF seek to get on the front foot on property’s behalf with its new manifesto. Selling property’s story (its £100bn annual contribution to the economy, the thousands of jobs it supports), calling for sensible, enabling reform (devolution, support for infrastructure) and pledging support on the real pain points of government (housing) has to be the way forward.
■ Leadership and partnership are the keys to unlocking regeneration. That was the central message from Lord Heseltine, who delivered the first Estates Gazette/Peter Wilson lecture last week. Over the course of 45 minutes, the 81-year old former deputy prime minister was on his feet, captivating the audience with a talk that spanned seven decades. And not a note in sight. This first annual lecture was staged to celebrate bursaries funded by the family of Peter Wilson – the former owner of Estates Gazette – for land economy students at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Many thanks to the college for hosting the event – and to Savills and Wragge Lawrence Granham & Co for supporting. And I would recommend listening to Heseltine’s address – it is streamed in full here. Nevertheless, he has presented us with a problem. How do we follow such an excellent debut – yes, of course Hezza is in our Power List too – next year?
■ Speaking at Thursday afternoon’s topping out of Riverwalk, his prime residential development in Westminster, Gerald Ronson captured London’s strengths – and the risks it faces – in a few short words: “In a market where every man and his dog is trying to take advantage of the London property market to park capital and hedge against inflation, the opportunities are fewer and farther between than ever before.”
But this isn’t a new phenomenon. EG’s latest London Investor Guide – launched at MIPIM next week – carries figures from Cushman & Wakefield that show investment growth in the fringe has already been outpacing that in the core over the past five years.
And will every man and his dog continue to back London forever? Don’t assume it’s inevitable. Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report shows that London is the city of choice for ultra-high-net-worth individuals (and you will need $30m or more in assets to join that particular club) and will remain so for the next decade. But Singapore is coming up hard on the rails and will be within touching distance by 2024.
London has changed almost beyond recognition over the past couple of decades. It could do so again over the next.
■ If you are at MIPIM, do drop by the EG stand on the London stand. Pick up copies of the three Investor Guides we are launching next week (you should be able to pick these up from the airport or your hotel too for the first time) and we will also have details of all the debates we are staging on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And if you are one of the many at MIPIM with a Cheltenham-shaped hole in your life, we can help. EG will be showing the races on the Wednesday afternoon at Morrison’s Irish Pub and raising money for LandAid in the process. Do come along.
damian.wild@estatesgazette.com
