Young people are reportedly being priced out of rural communities by soaring housing costs. Official statistics for England show that affordability in rural parts of the country is worse than in towns and cities, excluding London. In 2021, even the cheapest houses in rural areas cost around 9.2 times more than the earnings of the lowest paid workers. In […]
Emea
Space to think
When Design Engine Architects redeveloped the new urban campus for Oxford Brookes University, the hoardings screening the construction site were cleverly branded by the marketing team with the words “Space to Think”; the positive message to the students and staff being that this may be terribly disruptive for you now, but we are creating incredible […]
Can Oxford Street sell offices?
Marks & Spencer has won its appeal against Michael Gove’s decision to reject the retailer’s plans to demolish and rebuild its Marble Arch store. But are offices on Oxford Street a good idea? Many years ago, I was having lunch with a London office agent who mentioned in passing that he’d just been appointed on […]
High costs, greenlash hit Europe
The eyes of the world may be on the US presidential election. But another, usually sleepy campaign is underway: European Parliament elections in June 2024. Most of the action takes place in the executive and bureaucracy (the European Commission). But Parliament must approve laws. This could have interesting results for the European Union (EU) Green […]
Should young people care about the recession?
Did you hear that the UK was in recession was a question that popped up at the pub in the last week or so. The resounding replies were “and waters wet.” A generation of young people simultaneously not bothered. If you ask our parents though, the word recession will often muster a haunting reaction. So […]
Russia’s economy is now completely driven by the war in Ukraine – it cannot afford to lose, but nor can it afford to win
Two years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia is still facing an unprecedented number of economic sanctions. It has been excluded from major global financial services, and around €260 billion (£222 billion) of its central bank assets have been frozen. Russian airspace is closed to most western planes, and western ports are closed to Russian vessels. A formal […]
Carillion call
Thank goodness sense has prevailed and the Government has withdrawn its ridiculous attempt to take the non-executives overseeing Carillion to court for alleged failures. Carillion failed ignominiously and it was no-one’s finest hour, so it was right that serious questions were asked about how that could happen, but it is a travesty that non-executives should […]
Marriage Value Abolition: Why it will and should happen
This article has been written by Linz Darlington, managing director of Homehold which offer an end-to-end lease extension service with integrated lease extension solicitors. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is making quick progress through parliament. Since being announced in the King’s Speech on 7 November, it’s had its first two readings in the Commons and […]
Marriage Value Abolition: Why it should not happen
I read with interest the recent article suggesting that paying “marriage value” to freeholders was unfair to leaseholders when enfranchising their flats. It is a ridiculous and self-serving argument. The author’s thesis ignores the inconvenient truth that a leaseholder does not own the land upon which the leasehold interest has been created. And more than […]
FTSE 250: Time to give up?
The last few years haven’t been kind to the UK stock market and the FTSE 250, much like the FTSE 100, has fallen out of favour with all but the hardiest and most dedicated (or stubborn) UK investors. Perhaps now is indeed the time to throw in the towel, sell everything UK-related and move the […]