EDITOR’S COMMENT The first thing to write here this week is that I hope everyone is doing okay. The world is a tough place right now, and I know I speak for everyone at Team EG when I extend wishes of hope and safety to anyone impacted by the events in Ukraine. We, like many, feel impotent in what we can do to help the situation, but we will be doing what we can. More on that soon.
If I’m honest, I am finding it hard to write in the way I ordinarily would here. Somehow, it doesn’t feel important. Pontificating on issues in our little world of real estate – even those that have huge implications – doesn’t feel quite right.
That said, there is much to read in this week’s issue.
We look at whether Oxford and Cambridge are, to quote someone very much in the know, “big enough and ugly enough” to look after themselves and shouldn’t be kicking up a fuss about being left high and dry after the government’s previous grand plans to support turning the Arc into the UK’s Silicon Valley look to be fading. We also take a deep dive into Lord Bichard’s review of the RICS, which is pretty much a thesis on how not to run an organisation, and we doff a metaphorical cap to the organisers of MIPIM for removing Russian participants from this year’s event. In what is something of a test comeback year for the event, it is great to see the right thing being done, rather than the profitable thing.
For me, the right thing to do here is to take a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are to live in a country where there are not tanks on the streets, where our freedom is not under threat and where we are not forced to take up arms to protect our homes. Watching events unfold in Ukraine, I have questioned whether I would be as brave. I doubt I would. That troubles me.
I’m also troubled by how seemingly easy it has been for so many ultra-rich to stash their cash in UK property. This is by no means an attack on the ultra-rich, there are very many, very decent rich people in this world, but we all know there are others who are less upstanding. And hasn’t the UK been on something of a mission to invite investment in?
Yes, of course, we want the right investment, we want the “good” money, but have we really been as focused as we should be on making sure there’s no “bad” money coming in. Knowing your customer, as many in this industry will attest, is really hard. That “bad” money is often clever money, which means it can very much look like “good” money.
Where am I going with this? To be honest, I don’t know, but situations like these always make me think about purpose. Most journalists enter the profession because we believe the pen is mightier than the sword and that we will make a difference somehow. We believe we’ll reveal wrongdoings and change things for the better, whatever we write about. Maybe there’s a touch of me trying to do that here. To selfishly feel better about myself by asking you to work even harder making sure that real estate is a sector that does good, that creates change, that is ultimately peaceful.
These are strange and upsetting times, and if we are left feeling useless when it comes to helping those in real need in Ukraine, then maybe what we can do is do our very best to operate in a way that ensures understanding and collaboration and puts an end to bullying and conflict.
In moments like these, when I need a little clarity, I always turn to Charlie Mackesy and The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, so I’ll end with his words: “Sometimes all you hear about is the hate, but there is more love in this world than you could ever imagine.”
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
