News

MORNING NEWS: Industry outrage at eviction ban extension

News

Piers Wehner

17 June 2021

Good morning.

The property industry has reacted with dismay at the governments decision to extend the evictions ban to March 2022. Grosvenor said the whole industry was being “targeted ” and “deprived of their rights”, while BPF boss Melanie Leech said there was “no justification for the delay”.

Steve Barclay, chief secretary to the Treasury, told MPs the nine month extension “would strike the right balance”(£), adding that the moratorium would last until the Treasury had legislated to create an arbitration system.

Shares in retail landlords slumped following the announcement, with Hammerson ending the day 4.1% down.

(Apparently, though, it is the hospitality sector(£) that still needs more help.)

And working from home may have to continue to stop the road map going into reverse, warns Sage(£), in yet another blow to landlords.

So which do you want, asks EG’s editor. The good news, or the bad news?

There is better news for landlords in Clerkenwell, where a growing number of tech companies want to boot up their UK headquarters, including TikTok, which wants a second office.

And six companies(£) are in early talks(£) with national and local authorities to build battery gigafactories.

The Issa brothers’ £6.8bn takeover of Asda has been cleared by the competition watchdog(£).

The husband and wife owners of China Soho have approved Blackstone’s $3bn offer(£) for the developer.

Oxford Circus is to become two pedestrian piazzas with a £150m plan to revive the retail hub.

Inflation has trebled(£) since March to 2.1%, breaching(£) the Bank of England’s 2% ceiling.

And the residential market may have cooled in April, but house prices are still growing at a near record pace(£).

London housing association Local Space has secured a £61m private placement with MetLife Investment Management.

Meanwhile a series of micro homes could soon be dropped into gaps in Bristol.

And finally, there may be a simple solution for why working from home hasn’t led to the predicted rise in productivity. It turns out that something else has risen while City slickers swapped their desks for the comforts of home – recreational drug use(£). Apparently prices and sales of cocaine and cannabis have hit record, erm, highs, during the lockdowns, with home deliveries extending dealers’ territories from city centres into leafy residential areas. It is unclear whether the spike has been fuelled by boredom, stress, or the simple fact that the boss can’t quite see the state of your pupils over a Teams meet.

Good morning. The property industry has reacted with dismay at the governments decision to extend the evictions ban to March 2022. Grosvenor said the whole industry was being “targeted ” and “deprived of their rights”, while BPF boss Melanie Leech said there was “no justification for the delay”. Steve Barclay, chief secretary to the Treasury, told MPs the nine month extension “would strike the right balance”(£), adding that the moratorium would last until the Treasury had legislated to create an arbitration system. Shares in retail landlords slumped following the announcement, with Hammerson ending the day 4.1% down. (Apparently, though, it is the hospitality sector(£) that still needs more help.) And working from home may have to continue to stop the road map going into reverse, warns Sage(£), in yet another blow to landlords. So which do you want, asks EG’s editor. The good news, or the bad news? There is better news for landlords in Clerkenwell, where a growing number of tech companies want to boot up their UK headquarters, including TikTok, which wants a second office. And six companies(£) are in early talks(£) with national and local authorities to build battery gigafactories. The Issa brothers’ £6.8bn takeover of Asda has been cleared by the competition watchdog(£). The husband and wife owners of China Soho have approved Blackstone’s $3bn offer(£) for the developer. Oxford Circus is to become two pedestrian piazzas with a £150m plan to revive the retail hub. Inflation has trebled(£) since March to 2.1%, breaching(£) the Bank of England’s 2% ceiling. And the residential market may have cooled in April, but house prices are still growing at a near record pace(£). London housing association Local Space has secured a £61m private placement with MetLife Investment Management. Meanwhile a series of micro homes could soon be dropped into gaps in Bristol. And finally, there may be a simple solution for why working from home hasn’t led to the predicted rise in productivity. It turns out that something else has risen while City slickers swapped their desks for the comforts of home – recreational drug use(£). Apparently prices and sales of cocaine and cannabis have hit record, erm, highs, during the lockdowns, with home deliveries extending dealers’ territories from city centres into leafy residential areas. It is unclear whether the spike has been fuelled by boredom, stress, or the simple fact that the boss can’t quite see the state of your pupils over a Teams meet.