Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals.
Homes England has lost another senior member of staff as Barry Cummins steps away from the government agency.
Cummins took up the role as chief land and development officer on an interim basis in December 2021. He joined Homes England as general manager for land acquisitions in September 2018 and became national development director in November 2019.
The news follows the departure last month of chief investment officer Harry Swales, who had been with the organisation since 2015 when it was the Homes and Communities Agency. He is understood to be taking up a role in the private sector. The agency will be recruiting for both roles in due course.
Elsewhere, the fallout around HS2 continues with a major investigation by the Sunday Times alleging that the company running the project was deliberately covering up its escalating costs. HS2 Ltd denies any wrongdoing.
And private equity firms are having to rethink their exit strategies as income fell by more than $100bn between 2022 and 2023. Figures from PitchBook showed that buyout firms generated “just” $584bn from either selling companies outright or through taking them public That’s almost two-thirds below the record $1.4tn generated in 2021, when borrowing costs were low and US equities still in a bull market.
Hotelier Surinder Arora is also having a rethink as the planning row over his Fairmont Windsor Park hotel in Surrey continues. The hotelier is now offering to tear down the mansion he built on the neighbouring Parkwood Estate if he can keep the hotel intact. Arora built the Fairmont Windsor Park with an extra wing and multiple extensions and has been ordered by Runnymede Borough Council to tear down either all or part of it so that it matches the approved design.
All of this morning’s headlines:
Cummins leaves Homes England role
Hotelier offers compromise in planning row
HS2 firm accused of cost cover up
Private equity firms face worse exiting year in a decade
Pret a Manger to triple US stores
Tories plan stamp duty cut
Shoppers spend less as costs increase
Former UK leaders back cross-party mayoral approach
How China’s property crisis unfolded
Landlords threaten rent rises over Renters Reform Bill
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