UK commercial real estate (CRE) valuations are languishing at post-COVID lows, amid fears the sector faces “banking covenants being breached” and struggles with regard to occupancy. In this short article, we draw upon new Toscafund research which simply dismisses all such concerns. From the occupational standpoint, in the years ahead, rising employment across a range […]
For most cheese lovers, taste is the thing. Whether it’s a tangy blue stilton or a creamy oozing camembert, the most important element is the eating. But cheese has profound political and economic properties too, with implications for international trade deals and commerce. The taste of gruyere, for example, can depend on where you eat […]
Anyone trying to follow the latest political debate over housing, urban intensification and development can be forgiven for feeling confused. The National Party’s newly announced housing policy would allow local councils to opt out of the Medium Density Residential Standards the party originally supported. The Labour government calls it a “flip flop”, the Greens call it “confused”, […]
Back in May 2022 I penned an article about the challenges of promotion to the National League. Despite the pleasure and satisfaction of winning the National League South title in style, I wrote, reality was about to hit home in the form of the National League being the division from hell. Why so ? Well travel […]
Immigration statistics published by the ONS in May show that, when it comes to housing, we’re stuck running up the down escalator – one that is getting faster and faster. Net migration soared to a record 606,000 in 2022. That equates to population growth of 0.9% or adding two cities the size of Newcastle to […]
Labour has emerged from this summer’s local elections with what appears to be a commanding lead, but this is the time in the electoral cycle when voters go to the polls in local elections to send a message to the government. Next year’s General Election is not a foregone conclusion. We are at an inflexion […]
“I’ve never been so disgusted in my life.” Such was one Twitter user’s response to a recent video showcasing the spoils of a British Chinese takeaway order. “British Chinese” was trending on social media as American users analysed and criticised the cuisine, apparently bewildered by the “inauthentic” inclusion of chips or thick curry sauce. British consumers and producers of […]
Despite what the headlines might sometimes suggest, the housing crisis is not one, uniform problem faced by the whole nation, but rather a series of local and very different crises. The ratio between average house prices and average yearly earnings, for example, varies wildly across the country. In Kensington and Chelsea, the median person would […]
Motorists might be feeling under attack at the moment. They are blamed for climate change (CO2 emissions), air pollution (NO2 emissions), road deaths, and congestion. Many on the radical left take the view that reducing traffic is a good in itself, against the classic economic view that the purpose of infrastructure is to augment the […]
UK government debt prices have taken an unnerving journey south in the past few days. The closely watched ten-year bond has now hit a yield of 4.3%, taking it within a fraction of the level that caused a crisis in autumn 2022. The cause that time was Liz Truss’s mini-budget, which investors decided jeopardised the […]
