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22nd January 2016
London has topped a list of most successful cities for its innovation, liveability and capacity to reinvent itself. The top scoring cities offer an environment that “nurtures talent and an innovation-orientated economy”, according to the City Momentum Index (CMI) of innovative cities by Jones Lang LaSalle. London ranks first for the second year in a row for its economic growth and real estate structure. It has also been praised for initiatives that are transforming transport in the city.
The Independent (22/01/2015)
22nd January 2016
A former public toilet in London’s Spitalfields is on the market for £1m, the former public convenience being marketed as “charming and quirky premises”. The underground facility, which is 600 sq ft, has already been converted into a nightclub and is being offered as a bar or restaurant.
The Guardian (18/01/2015)
15th January 2016
Balfour Beatty has reportedly signed a pre-construction deal with developer LBS Properties, to build a 53-storey apartment block in South Quay. The Madison Tower development, at Marsh Wall, will house 423 luxury flats on a hexagonal floor plate, designed by architect Make, and will feature a private residents’ club on the 16th floor with lounge bar, gym, meeting and screening rooms, as well as a spa and pool area on the lower ground floor. Work is expected to begin this summer.
The Wharf (11/01/2016)
15th January 2016
Nearly a hundred of the UK’s worst sink estates could be bulldozed to make way for better homes as part of a “blitz” on poverty unveiled by David Cameron. The prime minister pledged that “brutal high-rise towers” and “bleak” housing will be torn down in an effort to tackle drug abuse and gang culture. In a keynote speech, Mr Cameron will make a link with the 2011 riots, claiming three out of four rioters came from sink estates. The £140m redevelopment programme is to be overseen by Michael Heseltine. His estate regeneration advisory panel has been told to produce a full blueprint by the time of the chancellor’s autumn statement.
The Times (10/01/2016)
15th January 2016
Nationally, rents increased by 4.9% in 2015 to an average of £739 a month, and surged 8% in London, to £1,596, according to figures by HomeLet. But for the first time in many years, cities outside the capital saw the biggest rent rises. Tenants in Brighton and Bristol suffered the biggest rent rises in Britain during 2015, as landlords raised prices by an average of 18% compared with the year before. David Gibson, a Green party councillor and part of the Brighton Living Rent Campaign, said: “We need to go back to rent controls and security in Britain.”
The Guardian (12/01/2016)
15th January 2016
A government scheme offering homebuyers in London loans of up to £240,000 to help them buy new-build properties will go live on 1 February. The extension of Help to Buy London, which was announced in the chancellor’s autumn statement, will be available to buyers of new properties in Greater London costing up to £600,000. As under the existing scheme, borrowers will need to be able to raise a deposit of at least 5%, and to qualify for a normal mortgage. They will also have to show that they can afford interest payments on the government loan when the five-year interest-free period ends.
The Guardian (12/01/2016)