MORNING NEWS: Woking not working

Good morning. Here is your daily bulletin with the latest news and views from EG, and a few tasty bits from the national press. The government has taken direct control of Woking Borough Council after ill-fated property investments resulted in a £2bn and growing debt mountain. A review pointed out that the assets are currently worth around half the amount of the debt used to buy and develop them. In other news, UK Biobank has received £127.5m to move its 16m biological samples and 150 staff to a new home at Bruntwood SciTech’s Manchester Science Park. Investment manager Newcore Capital has held the final close of its latest social infrastructure real estate fund with £190m in equity commitments. UKCM has sold a 180,000 sq ft logistics building in Wembley for £74m to a charity that funds the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The billionaire Issa brothers are closing in on a deal to merge their Asda and EG Group forecourts businesses into a £10bn retail group. A deal could come as early as today. Native Residential has been appointed to operate two BTR schemes in the North of England. Irish investment house Elkstone has formed a partnership with Harrison Street to develop more than 1,500 PBSA beds in Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Galway by 2028. And, with L&G closing down production at its Selby factory, can modular construction still be the future of housing development? An EG panel of experts thinks it can. The Times (£) has an interview with Barratt Developments chair John Allan, who has lost his position over allegations of sexual harassment. And the Conservative manifesto pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 will be missed, ministers have admitted.