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.
The day kicks off with two big M&A deals. SEGRO has agreed the terms of a £552m takeover of Tritax EuroBox. Announcing the recommended deal, the companies said it was “a compelling opportunity for shareholders in both companies, delivering a significant uplift in value for Tritax EuroBox shareholders and adding a portfolio of well-diversified and high-quality logistics assets to SEGRO’s portfolio on attractive terms”.
Next, Starwood Capital Group is set to buy Balanced Commercial Property Trust for £673m. The deal would mark the end to a challenging period for the fund, which pushed it to put itself up for sale. But BCPT manager Columbia Threadneedle is unconvinced, saying: “We are disappointed by the board’s decision to recommend the offer, as we believe there remains considerable upside to the portfolio of assets, particularly at this point in the market cycle, which we would like all long-term shareholders to benefit from.”
London faces some tough decisions about how to tackle its housing crisis, says Peter Mason, the leader of Ealing Council, and that means a “bigger and bolder conversation” about demand and supply in a global city.
“One of the challenges that London is going to face, particularly over the next 10 to 20 years, is making sure that the type of growth that we achieve is both sustainable and equitable,” Mason says in an interview with EG.
“Part of that is about admitting that in London as a whole, some of our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses. The extent of the green belt and the grey belts, the constraint of housing growth in London, means that we must have some very uncomfortable conversations about density.”
The council leader says the new Labour government has set a “clear indication that they are absolutely intent on building the 1.5m homes that they believe, and we collectively believe, the UK needs”.
He adds: “We have seen an incredible amount of stalling in the market. But [the government has] set out very clear intentions about the scale and the effort and the determination they wish to bring. And to some extent, it is akin to the ambition that we had in the 1945 government and the Lewis Silkin reforms to both new towns and to town planning. We need to have the scale of that ambition if we are going to make a dent in delivering the homes that people need.”
London’s office market too continues to pose problems. Workers in central London now spend more than half of the working week – an average of 2.7 days – in the office, placing the capital behind Paris, Sydney, Singapore, New York and Toronto.
Andrew Carter, chief executive at Centre for Cities, the think tank that crunched those numbers, says bringing more people back to the office will boost the city’s productivity and competitiveness.
“London has huge assets – world-class public transport, deep labour markets and lots of cutting-edge firms,” he says. “Encouraging more people back to the office, to be in line with other global cities, will enable the capital to continue to play the important national and international roles in the future.”
There’s also news on L&G’s new London HQ; a first look inside Art-Invest’s Canada Water scheme; and Liverpool’s search for a partner for its £300m Festival Gardens masterplan.
All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:
Starwood to buy BCPT for £673m
SEGRO agrees £552m Tritax EuroBox takeover
Ealing Council boss calls for ‘bigger, bolder’ housing conversations
Henry Boot to advance plans for 8,500 homes under new NPPF
Bloor Homes wins consent for 185 homes in Widnes
Tricky tinkering: Labour’s approach to nutrient neutrality
Art-Invest reveals first look inside Canada Water scheme
Brent Cross Town energy centre gets government funding boost
Hillview bags brace of lettings at Birmingham scheme
Legal & General confirms deal for new London HQ
Liverpool to seek partner for £300m Festival Gardens masterplan
Orchard Street IM offloads Slough warehouse scheme
Henley adds to top team as developments gather pace
Hub and Bridges’ Barbican office-to-resi plan up for approval
Blackstone closes £2.6bn refinancing of IQ Student Accommodation platform
Allsop resi auction raises £34m
KKR and Mirastar buy logistics portfolio from PLP
London lags in the return to the office
British home price rises to outpace inflation, but affordability to improve (£)
Angela Rayner prepares to rip up Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme (£)
Single bid for office in Canary Wharf skyscraper left empty since Covid (£)
Nine new offshore wind farms secured in renewable energy auction (£)
John Lewis plans £80m transformation of Reading depot into flats (£)
Labour’s non-dom crackdown could cost UK £1bn a year (£)
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