Good morning. Here is your breakfast bulletin full of the latest news and view from EG, and a selection of headlines from the national papers.
British Land has suffered a £1bn loss as plunging capital values more than outweigh operational strength. The loss is even greater than that announced by rival Landsec yesterday.
Meanwhile, Labour will attempt to position itself as the party of housebuilding and development later today. In a major speech, Sir Keir Starmer will say: “We will take on planning reform. We will bring back local housing targets. We will streamline the process for national infrastructure projects and commercial development.”
And you can hear more about how the parties are shaping up for the general election, and how this government is running out of time to push through its levelling up legislation, in the latest episode of EG’s Office Politics podcast.
Fund managers have cut their allocations to commercial real estate to their lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. Last month, a net 19% were overweight in the sector, this month a net 19% are underweight.
Labour has demanded an investigation into Teesside’s freeport project over concerns about possible corruption and its value for money. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has also asked the National Audit Office to investigate.
Homes England has teamed up with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to deliver up to 5,000 new homes throughout the region.
And Bradford Council has chosen the English Cities Fund as a private developer partner for its 1,000-home City Village project.
Self-storage is on the brink of becoming a £1bn-a-year business as Britons pack away more possessions.
And BlackRock has said staff must be in the office for at least four days a week as it clamps down on working from home.
The Qatari sheikh looking to buy Manchester United has submitted a £5bn last-ditch offer to prevent Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking control of the Premier League club.
The boss off Harrods has joined calls to reinstate VAT-free shopping, saying the government should “wake up and smell the coffee”. Although coffee is zero-rated for VAT anyway, so they might not appreciate the impact.
And property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz has been hit with another claim from a spread-betting company after amassing millions in losses. This one, from Spreadex is for £1.5m, plus £580,000 interest. Ouch.
