Good morning,
More confusion at the weekend over the future of investment zones. Following fairly strong indications last week that Liz Truss’s flagship growth policy was being scrapped, returning levelling up secretary Michael Gove hit the airwaves to say they were going ahead, but would be “reviewed”. Apparently this is to do with environmental concerns, but Gove later acknowledged that “everything will be reviewed”, as the government seeks to plug a £50bn budget black hole. And that includes cuts to major infrastructure projects such as HS2.
Meanwhile, in another about-face, the prime minister may attend COP27 after all. Rishi Sunak may make a “fleeting visit” to Sharm El-Sheikh between 6 and 18 November, despite saying last week that he would be too busy focusing on the Autumn Statement on 17 November. Whether this sudden change of heart has anything to do with Boris Johnson announcing he will be there, or COP president Alok Sharma saying he was “disappointed” by Sunak’s non-attendance, or even the King – who was banned from attending – hosting a reception for environmentalists at Buckingham Palace, is anyone’s guess. Of course, Sunak could simply have said he agreed with Greta Thunberg that the forum wasn’t green enough.
Interest rates are set to rise by a record level on Thursday. But will it be the 75bps rise to 3%, predicted by 84% of the market, or a full 100bps to 3.25%?
The government meanwhile has quashed suggestions that it will impose another tax on banks, but energy companies may not be so lucky.
And “new taxes, levies, regulations and policies” will add £4.5bn to housing developer costs each year, the Home Builders Federation has warned. That’s the equivalent of £20,000 per new home.
With all that in mind, the latest episode of EG Like Sunday Morning discusses the arrival of the prime minister and the return of Michael Gove, and questions whether there will be a “dullness dividend” for the property industry.
Incidentally, demand for homes has plunged by a third in the five weeks since Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget, research by Zoopla shows.
In other news, Empiric has paused all developments and deals due to market uncertainty, despite being almost fully booked for the next academic year.
The Times (£) is impressed by the “hulking figure” of “rugby-playing” URW boss Jean-Marie Tritant.
Meanwhile, The Guardian takes a trip to Bilbao to see if the Guggenheim effect is still as effective.
And finally, plans for a “Benidorm-style” beach resort on Britain’s priciest coastline have been thwarted – by lizards. Was David Icke right all along? Does an alien cabal rule the land, or at least, make the planning decisions in Poole? We couldn’t possibly comment, but the lizards in question here are sand lizards, a rare and protected species that appear to be the beach-bum spiritual brethren of the great-crested newt. Until their needs are met, the Rockwater Village scheme is dead in the water.
