Westminster

The Financial Times reports that property in Covent Garden and Soho is falling in value as higher interest rates snuff out the tentative recovery in London’s West End. The valuation of Covent Garden fell 2% to £1.8bn in the three months to the end of September, according to Capital & Counties (Capco), which owns the estate. Shaftesbury, owner of the neighbouring estate which includes Carnaby Street and Chinatown, said its portfolio valuation had fallen 3.6% to £3.2bn in the six months to the end of September. The value of commercial property is falling across the UK as higher interest rates weigh on valuations. In the West End and elsewhere, that is hitting landlords’ efforts to rebound from the pandemic.

Estate gazette reports that Grosvenor is nearing deals on two prelets across five floors of its landmark office development at 65 Davies Street W1. US private equity firm TA Associates will take the top three floors of the seven-storey scheme for its new UK headquarters, totalling 30,638 sq ft of offices and 3,605 sq ft of terraces. The space is under offer at a rent of around £200 per sq ft, according to market sources. In a separate deal, European alternative asset management firm Hayfin Capital Management is set to take 23,571 sq ft of offices and 290 sq ft of terraces on the second and third floors of the building.

The City

Property Week reports that The Ardent Companies UK has completed its acquisition of the retail element of The Royal Exchange in the City of London from Oxford Properties. Ardent is believed to have paid around £50m according to sources. It is a luxury retail destination with 51,400 sq ft of retail space around a historic covered courtyard, let to brands including Tiffany & Co, Hermès, Bremont and Fortnum & Mason. The asset is the latest addition to Ardent UK’s retail portfolio, following the purchase of Touchwood in Solihull in May 2021, in what was the first major shopping centre deal since the onset of the pandemic.

Architects Journal reports that Hawkins\Brown has received the go-ahead to extend the Grade II-listed Barbican office at 1 Golden Lane. Hawkins\Brown and project backer Castleforge are set to demolitish the building’s north and south façades, as well as part of its west façade – and refurbish the existing office space, as well as adding 2,500m2 in a modern building volume. Oliver Vickerage, development manager at Castleforge said: ‘Our proposal for the redevelopment of 1 Golden Lane places sustainability at its core. We will target BREEAM Outstanding by prioritising fabric retention, exploring opportunities for on-site material re-use and by taking a passive first approach to energy usage to significantly reduce the building’s operational carbon emissions post development.’

Camden

Building.co.uk reports that Camden council is looking for a development partner to carry out the next stage of regeneration on the much-lauded Bacton Estate in north London. The contract to complete the Karakusevic Carson masterplan is worth £133m. The planning permission – first obtained in 2013 and amended for phase two in 2018 – allows for 176 private, 61 social rent and 10 intermediate homes, as well as 260 sq m of commercial space.

Islington

Property Week reports that a £5.95m London terrace leads the line-up at next Savills auction. The lot is one of 219 listed in the catalogue for the auction, which will be its largest in five years. It is a four-storey former office property on Holloway Road, north London and is a 15,772 sq ft vacant property comprising of a terrace of four Victorian buildings.

Hackney

Hackney Gazette reports that campaigners are calling for transparency over the Morning Lane site. Hackney Council bought the Morning Lane Tesco site for £60 million in 2017 and entered into an agreement with developer Hackney Walk – the firm behind the nearby Fashion Walk scheme. That lapsed this year and the developer had not put in a planning application for the site. The council is looking for a new partner to build new homes to help meet demand in the borough, a supermarket and workspaces. Campaigners from Morning Lane People’s Space (MOPS) are challenging the town hall to commit to ensuring at least half the homes are council housing which people can afford.

Tower Hamlets

Financial Times reports on how Canary Wharf has been reimagined – the east London destination was first conceived for commuters but now is being rebuilt for a residential age. Canary Wharf’s transformation has been in part an attempt to redress criticisms that the area promoted city ambitions at the expense of the local community, who were largely ignored by the area’s original expansion.

Southwark

Southwark News reports that the fight to stop Elephant and Castle’s Mercato Metropolitano being demolished and replaced with residential blocks of up to 46 storeys is gathering steam. Formally submitted on October 3, the application says 35 per cent of the flats will be let at an affordable rate. Those ‘affordable’ tenancies will be split as 50% social rented and 50% affordable intermediate tenures. Objectors have highlighted that council inspectors previously said the site had an indicative capacity of just 438 homes, almost half the 838 proposed.

Lambeth

Building Design reports that Veterans declare war on Buckley Gray Yeoman tower as proposals for the 20-storey Waterloo office block draw fire from the Union Jack Club members. Since the proposals for the building – on a 0.28ha site between Waterloo Road and Cornwall Road – were lodged over the summer, more than 1,350 objections have been received, large numbers of which have come from members of the Union Jack Club. The charity, which provides accommodation and meeting space for serving members of the armed forces and veterans, says the proposals – created for developer Bourne Capital – will have a “significantly detrimental” impact on its environment.

Kensington and Chelsea

Property Week reports that Barkston & Courtfield Gardens hotel, a former hostel in Earl’s Court, west London, has been put up for sale for £20m by consultants Knight Frank. The property comprises two interconnected buildings and a separate building featuring a total of 429 beds in 91 rooms across 30,000 sq ft. The latter building has planning permission to convert into seven private residential apartments, while the other buildings have the potential for other uses including conversion into further residential accommodation subject to planning consent.

Hammersmith and Fulham

Estate Gazette reports that a Grade II listed car park is to be converted into a private school. Yoo Capital and Deutsche Finance International have secured planning approval as part of the £1.3nb Kensington Olympia, W14, regeneration scheme. Redevelopment of the 1930s multi-storey car park is set to be occupied by the BRIT School and private education provider Alpha Plus Group. The east of the site also has approval for a hotel and gym.

General

Property Week reports that recently returned housing secretary Michael Gove has confirmed the 300,000-new-homes-a-year target abolished by former prime minister Liz Truss will now remain in place. He said: “We need to build more homes – we need to build more homes for people to own, we also need to build more homes for social rent, we need to build more council houses, we need to build more housing association homes