All Feedback articles – Page 12
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NewsWhy retrofitting buildings is so vital
Editor: In the context of COP26 and the heightened urgency for decarbonisation strategies, retrofitting existing buildings for new purposes is a positive measure to ensure the sustainability of the housing sector. Crucially, retrofitting also helps to address the chronic housing crisis in this country.
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NewsYoung professionals seek climate-conscious careers
Editor: My generation has grown up listening to leaders talk about the climate crisis. But we are still on track for disastrous levels of global heating far in excess of the limits in the Paris climate agreement.
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NewsGreat news for the care home sector
Editor: I was pleased to read that Fortwell Capital has lent more than £450m to purpose-built care home and retirement living developers, creating more than £850m of value within the senior living sector.
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InsightCommunity Land Trusts key to solving housing crisis
Editor: The rebrand of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities suggests its secretary of state Michael Gove is keen to progress at pace. But at such an economically fragile and critical time, and following a Budget that was positive for affordable housing, it’s important that the sector also ...
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InsightConvert retail assets to flex space
Editor: News that banks are refusing to lend on portfolios that are heavily weighted towards retail is indicative of the continued evolution of the high street. In 2020 alone, year-on-year retail footfall dropped by more than 40%.
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InsightThe Budget was full of recycled housing commitments
Editor: The industry had been drip-fed news of measures over the couple of weeks before the Budget and had eagerly awaited details of these changes. While it’s encouraging to see the government’s pre-pandemic commitments back on the agenda, many of these have simply been recycled.
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InsightLandlords should act like partners
Editor: Bronny Wilson of Equiem wrote recently in this magazine that landlords should think about how offices can support staff, not tenants.
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InsightMichael Gove’s housing policy shift is long overdue
Editor: Michael Gove’s plans to shift the focus of housing policy away from the South East to the north of England are welcome.
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InsightLet’s rethink how stations function
Editor: Clare Flitton of Landsec recently discussed a “pandemic-driven office revolution”. This isn’t the only asset class that could benefit from fresh thinking.
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InsightFirms should be embarrassed by lack of diversity
Editor: Your recent front-page article – ‘Please mind the ethnicity pay gap’ – was excellent, but I feel it only skims over the surface of what should be an issue that firms are embarrassed about.
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InsightWhole-life carbon needs regulation
Editor: I read with interest and some frustration your articles last week on the complete absence of discussion on embodied carbon in the government’s new Heat & Buildings Strategy, and just a fleeting mention in its Net Zero Strategy.
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InsightWhy landlords and tenants should help each other
Editor: It is easy to criticise landlords for not showing empathy to tenants through the pandemic – while some could not, some could.
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InsightBetter collaboration is the way forward
Editor: The arrival of the Commercial Tenants Association (CTA) ‘banging on the doors’ of landlords it deems bad is welcome in that it reinforces the need for the often adversarial landlord and tenant approach to change.
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InsightSpec schemes: small can be beautiful
Editor: When it comes to speculative development, most attention focuses on the big shed developments, but that’s by no means the whole story. Smaller-scale speculative development is on the rise, particularly when it comes to industrial space, and there are a number of good reasons for this.
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InsightDynamic UK alternative debt market is growing
Editor: In the article ‘Debt funding for property deals fell 15% year on year in 2020’, AEW appears to include alternative lenders in its data, given its conclusion: “We don’t expect the current cycle of cost-driven inflation to be long-lasting…allowing banks and other non-bank lenders to start lending less conservatively.”
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InsightPlanning reform crucial to solving housing crisis
Editor: Last month, the newly rebranded Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published the latest figures for housing completions, verifying what we already know – that the UK continues to build far fewer homes than it needs and we are still failing to tackle the housing crisis.
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InsightBTR will play key role in Manchester
Editor: Manchester was recently named by Time Out as the third best city in the world, putting itself on the map alongside San Francisco and Amsterdam.
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InsightWhy housebuilders and LAs should partner up
Editor: Kate Parker’s recent article considered why local authorities (LAs) were struggling with social and affordable housing targets, a topic that ought to be at the top of Michael Gove’s in-tray.
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InsightProperty firms must move with the ESG tide
Editor: The news that the UK’s top property firms are in the midst of a recruitment frenzy should come as little surprise, as businesses across the sector benefit from the surge in optimism and uptick in activity in the wake of the pandemic.
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InsightPause to reforms will lead to housebuilding hiatus
Editor: Last week’s announcement of a pause to the biggest shake-up in the planning system in England for 70 years was unwelcome but not entirely unexpected.
