MORNING NEWS: Why all roads in flex lead to London

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. Jamie Hodari, chief executive and co-founder of New York-based flexible office operator Industrious, has “begrudgingly, but with the utmost respect” dived into London’s dominance in the sector, exploring why the capital is at the heart of his industry. “On the global stage, there are a few key players in the flex space industry, and we are all vying for global businesses to choose us as their preferred provider,” Hodari says. “Because London has the largest supply of high-quality flex space, it’s often the first city where global occupiers experiment with flexible office solutions. This makes London a critical battleground for flex operators, giving us the first opportunity to win over these potential customers… In simpler terms, for a flex operator like myself from New York, London is where you need to be to attract the world’s biggest clients.” Policy Exchange is calling for beauty to be at the heart of Labour’s proposed planning reforms. The think tank has released a report that calls for high-quality design to be at the centre of the reforms being made to the National Planning Policy Framework, consultation on which closes late next month. The paper is in direct response to Angela Rayner’s suggestion that beauty is too subjective to be included in planning policy. There’s also news on a new chief executive at Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, tensions over plans for an electric car charging station in Coventry, and auctioneer Bond Wolfe breaking through the £100m barrier for sales this year. In case you missed them on Friday afternoon, there’s an update to Life Science REIT’s leasing agent line-up and a new office tenant at Battersea Power Station. And we deliver your weekly look ahead at what to expect from EG in the coming days. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:Flex and flexibility: how London became the Silicon Valley of flexEG’s news agenda: what to look out for this weekCBRE tasked with boosting Oxford Technology Park’s global profileNew tenant plugs into Battersea’s 50 Electric BoulevardNew holiday lodge plans for Scottish BordersUrban Splash residential fund sees value rise by 25%BREIT boss to retire after 30 yearsLabour stalwart wants beauty back at the heart of NPPFBond Wolfe auction sales top £100mDeveloper questions WMCA’s EV charging hub plansStarmer says fixing UK problems will take timeHow London’s Olympic legacy reshaped the forgotten East End (£)Is the property market due a late summer surge? (£)Dagenham fire: Developer was warned about cladding before blaze (£)The radical land tax proposal that has garnered support from both the right and the left (£)M&S to open clothing-only boutiques (£)Labour to reconsider building scrapped HS2 route (£)Thoma Bravo’s RealPage accused of using algorithms that drove rents higher (£)Bristol is Britain’s biggest nimby city (£)Cineworld threatens to rip out seats if landlords reject rent cuts (£)Bidders line up for Brookfield’s £1.2bn sale of PD Ports (£)