All Comment articles – Page 3
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News
Building needs a zap, stat
Most of us would welcome a drop in the headline rate of inflation, but we must be careful what we wish for. Deflation – or falling prices – is not healthy either, resembling instead the slowing beeps of a monitor as the patient slips away.
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Insight
What do we need from a Leasehold Reform Bill?
Editor: At this stage in the electoral cycle, we need a Leasehold Reform Bill that is sufficiently comprehensive that it benefits leaseholders, while being sufficiently realistic that it can be passed before the next election.
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Insight
RIB’s Antony Antoniou on investment repercussions as WeWork files for bankruptcy in US
WeWork’s decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US has prompted concerns about what could happen to investment in the UK’s flexible office sector, should it also go into administration here.
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Insight
GRS’s Hongming Chen on the robots bringing manufacturing and logistics back home
In today’s fractured geopolitical landscape, how countries manufacture and transport goods is a key topic for the property industry.
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Insight
Steven & Bolton’s Sarah Cardew on whether freeport ships will be allowed safe harbour
With political uncertainty ahead in the run-up to the next general election, will the politics surrounding freeports be put aside in favour of waiting out the initial tax incentive time limits, to really understand the return on the Exchequer’s investment in these special tax sites?
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Insight
Thrive Homes’ Elspeth Mackenzie on the power of affordable housing
Affordable housing transcends the confines of mere shelter; it is the cornerstone of a nation’s economic prosperity. Addressing this fundamental human need isn’t just a social obligation; it’s an economic imperative that sparks growth, creates jobs and nurtures communities.
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Insight
Cobalt Recruitment’s Megan Bond on diversity in the real estate sector
While the industry is aware that both the perceptions and reality of diversity in Real Estate need to change to ensure the very best available talent can get in and get on, there are still barriers to progress in this area.
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Insight
IES’s David Ross on why post-occupancy evaluation is the secret weapon in the building performance battle
If there was an established and accepted method of making commercial buildings operate more efficiently to drive out waste, drive up value and reduce emissions, everyone would want to know about it, right?
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Online
Shawbrook’s Terry Woodley on where modular construction fits into UK housebuilding
The UK has a housing supply problem. We’re simply not building enough houses to meet demand, and we do not have enough existing stock of a good enough quality. While the government has tried to address the issue by introducing targets and relaxing regulations, the housing shortage has persisted. While ...
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News
Decisions, decisions: from the Covid inquiry to levelling-up
The current public inquiry into the handling of the Covid crisis has so far painted a deeply unflattering picture of the way central government arrives at decisions. Among an extraordinary amount of mud-slinging from former advisers, a couple of things stand out.
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Insight
Housing crisis: blame game unhelpful
Editor: There is a certain pantomime played out by politicians and the media when discussing housing policy, illustrated perfectly in the recent BBC programme Britain’s Housing Crisis: What Went Wrong?
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Insight
What can BFS developers learn from BTR model?
Editor: There are inherent differences between build-for-sale (BFS) and build-to-rent (BTR) developments.
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Insight
Carbon counting will barely count
Toward the end of an absorbing performance of the play Frank and Percy, Percy (played by Ian McKellen) admits to Frank (Roger Allam) he is being shunned by his academic peers for daring to suggest fighting climate change is hopeless. Frank, newly widowed, and Percy, newly single, edge into a ...
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Insight
CapitalRise’s Uma Rajah on why prime central London market is so resilient
As English writer Samuel Johnson so aptly put it in 1777: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”
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Insight
Savills UK’s Richard Rees on tackling the causes of youth homelessness
LandAid’s, and the wider property industry’s, efforts to help solve youth homelessness and ensure that everyone has a safe and suitable place to call home have been ongoing for several decades, but have taken on a new urgency in the last few years.
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Insight
Grainger’s Helen Gordon on levelling up in action
With HS2 in the news and some questioning the government’s commitment to levelling up, towns and cities across the UK are now positively benefiting from regional investment in build to rent (BTR).
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Insight
Overhaul planning to drive logistics growth
The national debate on planning reform has tended to focus on how we can build more homes, with less attention given to the employment uses needed to create sustainable communities and jobs for local residents.
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Insight
Motionspot’s Ed Warner on why progressive firms must include facilities to ease menopause and menstruation symptoms
October is Menopause Awareness month and while a significant proportion of the workforce is made up of people who experience menstruation, menopause, and hormonal change – including women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men and women – little is done in the workplace to acknowledge this.
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Insight
POD’s David Goldberg on the ethical dilemma of management companies skimming commission
Over the years, some property management firms have come under fire for skimming commissions on maintenance contracts. Now, amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and soaring interest rates, this topic has attracted new attention from homeowners and landlords alike.
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Insight
Commit to delivering biodiversity net gain
Biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation, which was due to come into force next month, has now been delayed until January. The legislation requires property developers to deliver a minimum 10% BNG to help protect and enhance the nature on the land they are developing. But why is this legislation important?