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, all perfectly curated to set you up for the week ahead.
The government has been urged to form a cross-departmental housing delivery unit to help it meet its 1.5m homes target.
The Radix Big Tent Housing Commission’s Beyond the Permacrisis – Delivering 1,000 Homes a Day report sets out 15 steps to deliver the 1,000 homes a day that will be needed over the course of the next parliament for the government to meet its target.
Alex Notay, chair of the commission and main author of the report, told EG that to reach 1,000 homes a day, the country needs a “bigger-picture independent committee like the Climate Change Committee, that has the steer and capacity to drive all the relevant government departments”.
She said: “There are no silver-bullet solutions to the housing crisis – it’s complex, it’s multilayered, it’s interlinked. We need lots of different tenures, we need different things to hit that target. And to reach 1,000 homes a day we need to do things about our skills, our capacity, about the construction, the supply, the labour market, viability, funding and planning and all of the things we talked about in the report.”
A flurry of demands are landing on the government’s doormat as the country nudges closer to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on 30 October.
Lender Atelier Finance has published its own manifesto – revealed exclusively by EG this morning – which it says will get SMEs building houses to help government reach its 1.5m-home target.
The lender said a one-size-fits-all approach to regulation and escalating costs leave a number of smaller schemes unviable. Interest rates on bridging loans now stand between 10% and 15% and, at the current rate, a year’s planning delay on a £10m site will cost developers more than £1m in interest.
It said an absence of consistent leadership, accountability and commerciality in planning departments is leading to uncertain planning conditions and a lack of proactive engagement with developers. Planning has become “politicised and polarised”, it added, with a number of sitting councillors elected on anti-development manifestos. The default position from some local authorities on new housing projects is now “no”, the team said.
Elsewhere, UKHospitality has secured the signatures of more than 170 chief executives of some of the the biggest pub and restaurant chains in the country, seeking major reform on business rates. The hospitality bosses claim that if the current relief on rates ends on 31 March next year, rates will quadruple, adding close to £1bn to hospitality businesses’ bills.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive at UKHospitality, said: “This 170-strong cohort of business leaders across hospitality shows just how important addressing business rates is at the Budget. Inaction will lead to bills quadrupling and more venues shutting their doors for good, which will rob our towns and cities of vital community hubs.”
She added: “Further closures will be so detrimental to the government’s growth agenda and put a dent in our sector’s ability to create places where people want to live, work and invest. If we don’t want to lose out on vital investment, job creation and regeneration of our high streets, then the chancellor needs to act to introduce a lower level of business rates for hospitality at the Budget.”
Action is taking place in the world of investment and leasing, however. According to fresh figures from JLL, office leasing activity in central London is trending 5% ahead of 2023, with some 6.6m sq ft of space taken in the first nine months of 2024 and more activity anticipated before the end of the year. While investment activity remains muted, the agent said it was encouraged by a steady flurry of assets coming to market. Those include a sizeable estate in the City, where agents at Allsop are offering the opportunity to deliver either a refreshed office development, or the potential to transform the Peek House Estate, EC3, into a 106-bedroom aparthotel.
And don’t forget, if you need to stay one step ahead of the competition this week, EG has you covered with a look ahead to what to expect in UK real estate with the EG news agenda.
All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:
Starwood provides 50% impairment on Irish portfolio
Sustainability rules force Impact Healthcare to change name
Investment in estate scores for Hollywood Bowl
Former tea merchant’s City estate brought to market
Government urged to create housing delivery unit in bid to address ‘permacrisis’
Central London office activity pulls ahead of 2023
Development lender issues eight-point manifesto to get SMEs in action
Tritax Eurobox seeks to adjourn SEGRO shareholder meeting
Hospitality bosses urge Reeves to cut rates at upcoming Budget
EG’s news agenda: What to look out for this week
COMMENT: Technology can radically transform the carbon footprint of commercial property
Rayner sets up ‘council housing revolution’ (£)
Councils ‘sitting on £8bn meant for social housing and schools’ (£)
Estate agents’ books fill up as mortgage rates fall (£)
Steakhouse chain sounds out investors as meat makes a comeback (£)
BBC boss fights plans for ‘suburban’ homes near his £4m Oxfordshire farmhouse (£)
Angela Rayner takes control of decision on new Chinese embassy in London (£)
Hilton CEO: ‘Complacency is a disease that can be very dangerous’ (£)
Amazon buys stake in nuclear energy developer in push to power data centres (£)
New town plan stalled by economic challenges
Property titan who beat US deportation to build a $218bn empire (£)
How Mark Preston is modernising the Grosvenor estate (£)
Number of homes sold in UK up by one-third
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