Resi wrap: Fire safety fears dominate

Welcome to your weekly round-up of residential stories from EG. Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove has called on developers to pay £4bn for cladding remediation in a “new deal” with the industry. The comments came in a flurry of announcements around building safety ahead of the anticipated levelling up white paper expected this month. Speaking in the House of Commons on 10 January, Gove said: “To those who mis-sold dangerous products, such as cladding or insulation, to those who cut corners to save cash as they developed or refurbished homes, and to those who sought to profiteer from the consequences of the Grenfell tragedy: we are coming for you.” Fire safety concerns later in the week led to developer Ballymore pulling plans for a 51-storey skyscraper at the eleventh hour. Tower Hamlets planners had recommended the Cuba Street scheme for approval, however the London Fire Brigade said it had concerns over the single staircase escape route. Ballymore said it will work with the LFB and council and present the scheme for approval in due course. Elsewhere, the new year people moves have continued. Former head of residential investment at Abrdn, Ed Crockett, has joined Savills’ operational capital markets team. Ex-colleague Corinne Stevens has also left Abrdn after more than five years as deputy fund manager. She has been recruited by Lloyds’ BTR business Citra Living as asset management director. And after four years as a director at Liv Consult, Ashley Perry has moved to Apache Capital as investment director. In other news, Countryside chief executive Iain McPherson announced he would step down with immediate effect, as completions, revenue and profits plunge below last year’s levels. Countryside said trading in the first quarter had been “below the board’s expectations.” But it gave no further details as to why McPherson had left so abruptly. Company shares plunged by 21% as the market digested the results. View the magazine download the app (iOS and Android) and read on for more of the week’s headlines:  Government ignores call for £500m or planning reform L&Q issues first housing association sustainability-linked bond L&G backs 10,000-home net zero tech company Dandara plans 3,000-home Digbeth neighbourhood Developer plans 46-storey Docklands co-living scheme EcoWorld wins Woking approval at appeal Get Living gets £365m loan for Elephant Central BTR FEC buys Dantzic Street site Patrizia ploughs €314m into Danish PBSA Moorfield adds care homes to £125m portfolio   To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews Image © gov.uk