Good morning and a happy new year. Grab that last slice of Christmas cake and drain those dregs of mulled wine, as we launch into 2020.
A surge of deals is expected in the capital this year, after the hesitancy of 2019. In fact, the last weeks of December saw £1.2bn change hands(£).
Good news for M&G, which is hoping a glut of eager buyers in 2020 will help it improve its cash position. Until then it’s £2.5bn fund will remain well and truly gated(£).
As with the big fish, so with the minnows – Blackmore Bond is also disappointing investors(£) as it misses yet another payment deadline. It too is hoping that sales will pick up with the new year…
… A wish echoed by many a retailers, as Christmas failed to provide a miracle for the high street(£).
Strategic land developer King & Co are rattling the tin for £450m to build homes in the Home Counties…
… While Peabody is on the hunt for a developer for it’s £100m revamp of a disused paper factory in SE1.
And it seems sustainable buildings are economically sustainable too, as EG’s number crunching shows that higher EPCs have no economic downside.
In Dublin formal plans have been released for a €1bn innovation hub at Dublin’s Grand Canal Docks(£). Part of the funding for the tech campus will apparently come from “philanthropy”. Meanwhile, tech giant Google has paid no tax in Ireland on $40bn of profits(£).
The new decade has started with the same calls to fix the broken retail sector(£), overhaul business rates and build more build-to-rent(£)…
… But anyone interested in a new career should drop Dominic Cummings a line at Number 10(£). The PM’s chief adviser wants to recruit “weirdos and misfits”(£) to help shake up Whitehall. “Great project managers” who are also “true wild cards” should apparently send a one-page email outlining their ideas to an unofficial account – ideasfornumber10@gmail.com – with the subject line “Job”.
In other news, a lost Roman city has been found(£) by people idly messing about on Google Earth, and the FT (£) has useful check-list for what a footballer looks for in property. Would you believe it’s a pool, bling, and privacy?
And finally, anyone fancying a new pad for the new year should check out this five-bed beauty, right on the Thames near the Tower of London(£). A snip at £3.5m. Close to the water… well, on the water. The former coal barge comes with its own jet-ski launch, but the price-tag doesn’t include the St Katharine Docks mooring fees of £35,000 a year. Still, at least you don’t have to pay council tax…
