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23rd October 2015
Soho firms looking to attract the brightest graduates, top creatives and tech stars are losing out to businesses located to the east of the City. "Gen Y, in particular, tend to live in the east of London because it is a cheaper and more interesting place to live," says Matthew Bonning-Snook, executive director at Helical Bar. "As a result, they prefer to work closer to home so they can take public transport and cycle. There are other drivers, too. Many offices have been converted to residential and, combined with a pickup in the economy, vacancy rates are less than 5%. So the capital needs to expand into new areas to meet demand.”
Evening Standard (22/10/2015)
23rd October 2015
The Standard reveals wealthy investors have acquired over £100bn of property across London by using overseas companies in the past six years. Land Registry data obtained by Private Eye magazine shows that since 2008 there have been 27,989 purchases of homes, buildings and land in the capital by corporate structures - usually registered in tax havens. Two-thirds of the purchases were made by companies registered in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands. Green London Assembly member Darren Johnson said: "The Mayor has been too relaxed about investors buying up property in London. These figures show a huge volume of property snapped up via tax havens. It's Londoners who are losing out."
Evening Standard (23/10/2015)
23rd October 2015
Futurologist Dr Ian Pearson says 18-mile high buildings with spaceports will be a possibility in a London of 2045, thanks to new materials. Dr Pearson wrote the report for construction hire firm Hewden. On construction sites, builders who are "half-human, half-machine" could wear super-strength exoskeletons capable of carrying great weights, while London's housing crisis could be eased by 3D-printed pre-fabricated buildings assembled by robots.
Evening Standard (23/10/2015
16th October 2015
Ballymore and Oxley’s Royal Wharf development at West Silvertown – Phase Three of which is set for release this autumn – will have a 20,000 sq ft leisure facility available for residents in the 3,385 riverside properties. Designed by David Morley Architects, the company behind the 2012 Olympics Water Polo Arena and the Hurlingham Club’s outside pool, the facility will include a gym, a 25m indoor pool, exercise studios, and a communal café and rest area, sitting alongside a 2.4 acre park and 500m of riverfront walkways. Oxley chief executive Ching Chiat Kwong said “The planned leisure facility will bring a space for community and wellbeing to Royal Wharf, encouraging an active lifestyle among its residents. We are excited that David Morley, one of the UK’s leading architects for sporting facilities, is working with us to bring this vision to life”.
The Wharf (10/10/2015)
16th October 2015
An east London property boom has seen prices rise by almost 15% in some areas in the first six months of the year. Land Registry data reveals that property prices increased 3.4% in Canary Wharf and the Docklands, 2.6% in Greenwich, and a massive 14.4% in Blackheath.
City AM (12/10/2015)
16th October 2015
Around London’s Tech City in the Hoxton and Shoreditch areas, six major new-build developments have been finished or are under construction, and more than 2,300 apartments are due to be completed by 2018. Concerns are being raised over whether the housing is too expensive, as the market for high-end properties in London is faltering. However, estate agents report nearly 100% sales for developments. At the same time, what made the area a success story – tech start-ups – are being priced out of the area due to the cost of property.
Financial Times (10/10/2015)