All Comment articles – Page 15
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Insight
LGIM’s Bill Hughes on whether the built environment can be a force for good
We, the real estate industry, have reached an inflection point – one where our approach to environmental and social factors can ensure that the built environment becomes a force for good.
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Insight
Get Living’s Ailish Christian-West on the role of belonging
Plenty of column inches across the property press have been taken up with talk of environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments over the past few years. And for good reason – our industry is fundamental to the economic, social and environmental prosperity of the nation.
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Insight
Runway East’s Natasha Guerra and Boodle Hatfield’s David Rawlence on B Corp office providers
At a time when environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials and aspirations are being heavily scrutinised, achieving B Corp status is a useful differentiator and quantifier to cut through the noise, but should landlords care if their serviced office providers have this rubber stamp accreditation?
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Ramboll’s Martin Bissell on how technology can save stranded assets
The built environment is the second-largest source of carbon emissions in the UK after surface transport, and as such, it is of paramount importance that we take action to decarbonise buildings to meet net zero targets.
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Insight
Berkeley Research Group’s Ian Mackie on the contentious issue of valuing commercial properties
In a bid to strengthen oversight of, and increase confidence in, commercial property valuations, RICS has been looking to implement various changes to the profession, following the recommendations set out by Peter Pereira-Gray in his Independent Review of Real Estate Investment Valuations, published in January 2022.
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Insight
Fleet Street Quarter’s Lady Lucy French on curating post-Covid mixed-use destinations
A dawn of a new day is being witnessed as perceptions of city centres have dramatically shifted, triggering a need to reshape and reinvent urban centres in a post-pandemic world.
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News
Carter Jonas’s Katherine Jones on the Oxford-Cambridge Arc: a revitalised vision or ruin?
An arch is one of the most enduring structures within architecture, and has a unique ability to link two separate elements with strength and beauty. The Oxford-Cambridge Arc, conceived before the pandemic and political uncertainty disrupted planning and development, was intended to create a strong link between the cities of ...
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News
Instant Group’s Lucinda Pullinger on how macroeconomic forces are changing real estate
Nowhere is the impact of the pandemic more pronounced or more ongoing than in the real estate industry. Shifting office habits and ways of utilising space are by now a familiar tune. But add in the war in Ukraine, with its macroeconomic fallout, the growing urgency for climate action, financial ...
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News
Business for Health’s John Godfrey on housing policy’s role in ‘levelling up’ our health
At the heart of the government’s ‘levelling-up’ initiative is the belief that the country needs bold policies committed to improving the lives of all its citizens, rather than simply fuelling economic prosperity in concentrated bubbles.
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Insight
Logistics needs to reach a more diverse talent pool
Editor: The recent announcement that the Generation Logistics campaign, which aims to improve recruitment and retention in the logistics workforce, has secured another year of government funding is welcome news for the sector, where there remains a critical need to expand the labour pool.
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Insight
Green-belt narrative has to change
Editor: In PMQs late last month, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed that housebuilding had “collapsed” – a sentiment felt by many in our industry. Indeed, the target of 300,000 new homes a year has not come close to being reached over the last decade.
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Insight
Grainger’s Helen Gordon on the importance of clarity
With housing likely to be a key focus of any election campaign, there have been several positive signs recently that both sides understand that supply is the fundamental issue and a driver of the housing crisis, which is encouraging.
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News
BCIS’s Joe Martin on what is next for construction
Are there any reasons for the construction industry to be optimistic? The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently forecast that gross domestic product would not fall this year and would grow slowly over the next two years, buoyed by growth in world GDP.
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Insight
Employers must stamp out bad habits to attract and retain diverse talent
For many years, real estate recruiting with diversity and inclusion in mind was a tickbox exercise for many organisations.
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Insight
An anti-business UK government
Boris Johnson infamously gave his thoughts on what he thought of business, something that would not generally be appropriate to the decent minds of the British property sector, but let’s just say ‘eff it’. Some Tory ministers sought to smooth over the matter but for many, rightly, it was a ...
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Insight
Align climate goals with health
As record-breaking heatwaves spread across southern Europe, we are confronted with the stark reminder that the effects of climate change are no longer far-flung, but are already upon us.
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News
M&S lesson: don’t diss retrofit
Michael Gove’s decision last week to throw out plans to redevelop the M&S flagship building on Oxford Street must have been particularly galling for the retailer, given that the secretary of state seems to have prioritised protecting the visual impact of the Selfridges store next door.
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Insight
Property taxes mean it’s not so easy for buildings to be green
Two years ago, in a well-publicised disagreement with Kermit the Frog, then prime minister Boris Johnson told the United Nations General Assembly in New York “it’s easy to go green”.
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Insight
MTVH’s Geeta Nanda on lessons to be learnt from Windrush
On the 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation’s arrival, their experiences are a cause for celebration while raising serious questions about housing today.
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Insight
Financial disclosure: misleading signs on the road to net zero
It is widely recognised that the real estate industry is a major contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions. If we are to reach net zero by 2050 – as called for in the 2015 Paris Agreement – the industry requires clear and effective regulation now more than ever.