MORNING NEWS: More reform needed to hit housing targets

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of real estate-relevant headlines from the national papers. Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework will not be enough to help the government hit a target of 1.5m new homes by 2029, according to a new paper from think tank Centre for Cities. In fact, the organisation claims, the reforms so far would still leave a shortfall of 388,000 homes. Centre for Cities has made recommendations including replacing the discretionary planning system with a rules-based, flexible, European-style zoning system. Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “Rightly, the government has set a bold housebuilding target. For the country to achieve it, parts of England would have to reach an 80-year high in housebuilding. This would be a huge positive for the country but the approach has to be much more ambitious. “We are in a productivity crisis. The UK’s big cities are the jobs and productivity engines of the economy but our planning system doesn’t allow – and has never allowed – them to build an adequate supply of homes for everyone that could work there. “We have done wholesale planning reform before and we can do it again. What we can’t do is raise national economic growth – and reduce the strain high housing costs place on people’s spending power – if we don’t address the backlog of missing homes.” Mansion Group Holdings is under offer to acquire a five-asset, 795-bed purpose-built student accommodation portfolio that was being marketed for offers over £84m. “The Collection” is held by 90 North Real Estate Partners and Rasameel Investment Company as part of the Academy Investment Fund. It was marketed as a value-add opportunity. The owners appointed Harris Associates to sell the portfolio in June this year, with refurbishment and rental reversion potential at a net initial yield of 6.37%. Singaporean developer Ho Bee Land has lodged plans for the redevelopment of 1 St Martin’s Le Grand, a 10-storey, 19th century office block, with the City of London Corporation. The project will be pitched as a “retrofit-led global HQ”, reusing some 70% of the structure and materials and minimising the project’s embodied and operational carbon. Ho Bee Land bought the site a decade ago. It one of eight assets the company owns in London, with others including the Scalpel, EC3. There’s also news on Dutco Group’s hotel acquisition in Edinburgh; a planned lab extension from Oxford Trust; and our latest Voice of the Region interview, with Curchod & Co partner Piers Leigh. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:Radical planning reform required to hit housebuilding targetMansion Group under offer on 795-bed PBSA portfolioHo Bee Land launches City office redevelopmentMcLaren’s renaissance drives success of Surrey CREManagement processes pushing women out of real estate, finds studyLaying the groundwork to tackle barriers in propertyDubai-based hospitality firm acquires Edinburgh hotelStarling spreads its wings in Cardiff’s Brunel House250-home Fishponds scheme tipped for cast-offWates appoints managing director for LondonLavender gets go-ahead for Birmingham PBSA schemeBirmingham approves Sama’s Chinese Quarter PBSALandsec reports record retail sales around Black FridayEnterprise Land teams up with Capital Assured in PBSA pushOxford Trust’s new lab at Wood Centre tipped for approvalReeves promises more power for England’s regional mayors (£)UK retailers report weakest sales since April, BRC survey shows (£)Claridge’s owner to triple its number of hotels as luxury travel booms (£)Profits at Upper Crust owner SSP back above pre-Covid levels (£)Upmarket tapas chain Iberica on brink of collapseWhitehall reverts to working from home under Starmer (£)