All Comment articles – Page 6
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Insight
BW: Workplace Experts’ Kevin P’ng on the folly of waiting for lower construction costs
The commercial fit-out market has had a challenging year. Economic and geopolitical instabilities, the domestic policy landscape, higher borrowing costs and surging construction prices, have all contributed to hesitancy and uncertainty. Both developers and end users have been biding time, waiting for pricing and the market to settle.
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Insight
The role of energy efficiency in higher education: The innovative approach of EcoSync & Corpus Christi College
EcoSync’s collaboration with Corpus Christi College at the University of Oxford is a crucial case study that highlights the importance of energy efficiency in universities and student accommodation.
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Insight
Butterfield Mortgages’ Alpa Bhakta on why lenders are looking beyond prime central London resi
For many years, the appeal of owning a property in one of the world’s cultural and financial hotspots, coupled with the potential for substantial capital appreciation, has attracted investors from all over the world to the prime Central London (PCL) property market.
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Insight
Net zero progress is moving far too slowly
I found the recent UKGBC and RICS reports, released on Built Environment Day at COP28, to be apt testaments to the current state and sentiment for net zero in the industry.
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Insight
Don’t forget affordable later living
Increased investment in affordable homes has made for welcome reading recently, including Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) launching its first affordable housing investment to back London Square Group and Square Roots.
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Insight
Which sectors will debt providers be backing in 2024?
Editor: While the lead-up to the autumn election will perhaps hinder progress, we are likely to see a boost in productivity in Q4 alongside a fall in interest rates.
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Insight
Brickflow’s Ian Humphreys on a framework to address the housing crisis
Following Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to build the ‘next generation’ of new towns and 1.5 million new homes as part of ‘a decade of renewal under Labour’, and ahead of what will be a key political battleground in the lead up to the election, Brickflow’s ‘Solving the UK’s ...
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News
2023 in review: words from the wise
It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to the months gone by. Rather than attempt to come up with my own sage observations, I have instead purloined the thoughts of the industry’s finest, all of whom were interviewed by Property Week over the past year.
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Insight
Housing: will the government wake up?
It’s no secret that housing and homelessness are at the top of many local authority (LA) agendas. The unprecedented spike in the use of temporary accommodation (TA), at a cost of £1.7bn last year, is driving a coach and horses through many local budgets.
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Insight
Flexible workspace is a key pillar of the office sector
In the commercial real estate sector at least, the past few months have been dominated by WeWork. Its US bankruptcy has cast a long shadow over the sector – or at least that’s what some headlines suggest.
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Insight
REITs face a perfect office storm as tech tenants falter
The good news is that a lot of the losses made by REITs now lie in the past. The bad news is maybe not all. REITs locked into legacy debt are not selling buildings, while buyers with new, expensive debt– cannot afford to buy.
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Insight
Development frameworks help meet ESG goals
Investors, regulators and organisations are increasingly weighing non-financial performance indicators as they look to better understand risk and uncover growth opportunities.
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Insight
Building developer costs are finally down
After soaring since the pandemic, the cost of building materials and labour finally seems to be falling. But it may be too late to save many subcontractors, many of which now appear to be on life support.
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Insight
Smaller industrial and logistics units are back in play
Amid high interest rates and a flatlining UK economy – it’s not easy for fund managers to generate positive returns. Investorare all looking for the same thing: value-add returns at core-plus risk.
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Insight
Handelsbanken’s Simon Bradley on what private landlord exodus means for the rented housing market
It is not news – at least not to anyone involved in the sector – that the UK is en route to something of a rental crisis, at least in the short term.
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Insight
Residentially’s Jonathan Pearson on bridging the gap between for-profit and not-for-profit affordable housing providers
The government turmoil around housing is perhaps epitomised by September’s defeat in the House of Lords of measures to abolish river pollution nutrient neutrality rules, which had the potential to alleviate some of the burdens on housebuilders.
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Insight
MTVH's Geeta Nanda on why the housing crisis needs investment
There is no doubt that the chancellor’s Autumn Statement brought some welcome support for struggling renters.
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Insight
No sign of much-needed funds for school building
Editor: It was notable that there was no additional funding for schools in the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, despite the continuing deterioration of the estate and issues with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
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Insight
Peter Bill on navigating the road to recovery
“Yesterday may have been the beginning of a slow, and doubtless bumpy, recovery,” said former Knight Frank senior partner Alistair Elliott over breakfast on 15 November.
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Insight
Embrace AI to tackle sustainability
Editor: In his Autumn Statement, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans for £500m in funding for artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including important safety and security measures.