Westminster

Property Week reports that real estate giant Landsec has signed three deals with female activewear brand Sweaty Betty to take 6,000 sq ft of retail space in its prime retail destinations. This includes 2,250 sq ft at Victoria, London, by the rail station as well as in Oxford and Portsmouth. Landsec said the move continued a strategy launched last year focusing on building strong relationships with brand partners and providing them with a single point of contact within the group.

Property Week reports that the public inquiry into the M&S Oxford Street scheme closed on Friday with SAVE Britain’s Heritage stating demolition of the flagship building could not be justified on either heritage or climate grounds. SAVE’s barrister Matthew Fraser of Landmark Chambers argued that the proposal to clear the landmark West End site and build a 10-storey block of mostly offices over a “carbon-intensive multi-storey basement” would cause real harm.

Property Week reports that the BBC is to exit two buildings as part of an ongoing rationalisation of its property portfolio. The broadcaster will leave Wogan House in London and Bridge House in MediaCity, Salford, by spring 2024. The moves are the latest steps in the broadcaster’s plans to reduce its real estate costs to enable it to invest in more content.

Property Week reports that CBRE Investment Management (CBRE IM) has agreed two leasing deals at office building 5 Howick Place near London Victoria rail station, totalling more than 40,000 sq ft. Alternative credit specialist Pemberton Asset Management is taking 20,000 sq ft on the third floor of the building, while events and publishing business Informa has renewed its lease for 20,000 sq ft on the second floor.

The City

Property Week reports that Real estate investment manager Europa Capital has signed two new office lettings totalling circa 14,400 sq ft at Fetter Yard, in London’s Midtown, in a joint venture with Hobart Partners. The newly refurbished grade-A office building on Fetter Lane comprises prime office space arranged over eight floors and is rated BREEAM ‘Very Good’. Eigen Technologies, a document intelligence platform that enables data extraction and analysis, has leased around 10,000 sq ft on a 10-year lease, and an undisclosed London-based law firm has agreed to occupy around 4,000 sq ft on a 10-year lease. The recent lettings increase the overall occupancy of the 101,000 sq ft building to 70%, with negotiations continuing for the remaining space.

Architects Journal reports that Arney Fender Katsalidis (AFK) has submitted its plans for a 63-storey skyscraper at 55 Bishopsgate in the City of London. The proposed 285m-tall office tower, which was first revealed at a public consultation this summer, will replace a 10-storey 1992 building. Together with a linked 22-storey block, would provide about 74,000m² of office space as well as ‘expansive’ public space on the top floor – dubbed the ‘Conservatory’ – and activation at ground level. If built today, it would be the third tallest building in the UK behind The Shard, and the neighbouring 22 Bishopsgate. However, both are set to be eclipsed by Eric Parry Architects’ 1 Undershaft which was approved in 2016, and, though still unrealised, finally looks set to be built out.

Camden

The Construction Index reports that plans for Oriel, a new £250M state-of-the-art eye care, research and education centre in London, have been given the green light. The joint initiative between Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Charity, which will see services move to a brand-new integrated centre on the site of St Pancras Hospital, has now been given final NHS and government approval. Approval is the final step before construction starts in 2023 and follows Camden Council granting full planning permission for the centre in August. The preferred contractor for the project, Bouygues UK, has developed a full construction programme with the building due to open in 2027.

Islington

Property Week reports that flexible retail operator Sook is opening its 12th site in January at Cain International’s mixed-use Islington Square hub in north London, kickstarting the firm’s plan to open 50 new sites across 2023. Sook, which transforms retail units into adaptive pop-up spaces that are rentable by the day, allows multiple occupiers to use the space throughout the week. Property Week also reports that Cain International, has agreed terms with Scandinavian women’s designer and homeware retailer Wild Swans and Turkish homeware retailer Karaca for the same development. Wild Swans has signed a lease to occupy 4,247 sq ft while Karaca will occupy 2,641 sq ft for its first store in the UK, resulting in the mixed-use development’s retail space approaching 92% let. Cain International said both retailers are on track to open ahead of December 2022.

Bdaily News reports that The City of London Corporation will build 91 new affordable homes on its York Way Estate in the London Borough of Islington. Residents will benefit from a combination of studio, and one, two, three and four bedroom homes across four buildings. Half of the homes will be given to tenants of Islington Council. The City Corporation will also build a new community centre, estate office, two playgrounds, a games area, and resident gardens. The City Corporation is a social landlord managing 12 housing estates across the City of London and six London boroughs.

Tower Hamlets

The Construction Index reports that Southern Housing Group is to build 236 affordable homes in partnership with O’Shea Group and Galliard Homes. The deal will see 236 affordable new homes built at Wickside, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and will significantly boost the availability of energy-efficient affordable housing in the Borough. The homes will utilise air source heat pumps for heating and hot water.

Southwark

Bdaily News reports South London property consultancy Henshall & Partners has overseen the acquisition of six affordable homes, in a deal worth £1.45m by local Southwark provider Wandle Housing. The purchase of the new-build homes will allow Wandle to release “much-needed” affordable homes in Q1 2023, with the provider looking to source significant completed stock to meet growing demand. The subject scheme is a development site Henshall & Partners first sold to Featherstone Homes and comprises 19 apartments in total, which included six allocated affordable homes, with a range of one, two and three bed units available.

Lambeth

Brixton Buzz reports that a petition has been launched to urge Lambeth Council to apply to the GLA for funding to buy back ex-council properties. Labour-run Wandsworth Council have already received enough funding to buy back 50 homes, providing much needed relief to those on the waiting list.

Wandsworth

Wandsworth Times reports that there are plans to reroute South Circular and ban cars from town centre. Transport for London said it is committed to redesigning a “nightmare” one-way system in South London after doubts were raised about the scheme’s future following years of delay. Wandsworth Council set aside £27million of the project’s estimated £79m costs more than a decade ago to redesign a town centre to slash congestion. TfL published the plans in 2014, which were supported in consultations, and work was due to begin in 2017 – but this still hasn’t happened.

Kensington and Chelsea

Inside Housing reports that former staff from the social housing body responsible for the management of Grenfell Tower are being investigated by the police for serious criminal offences relating to the fire, the barrister representing the organisation revealed today. Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), the arm’s-length body owned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), was effectively abolished in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire following widespread criticism. It now exists only as a shell organisation for the purposes of future investigation, managed by new staff and a new board.

Hammersmith and Fulham

Architects Journal reports that Hammersmith & Fulham Council has approved an AHMM scheme for 60 affordable homes for women and an 18-storey co-living tower block after initially blocking the scheme. The London borough’s development planning committee gave the green light to AHMM’s proposals in White City at a meeting on Tuesday (8 November), with the decision now set to be rubberstamped by the Mayor of London’s office. AHMM and HUB subsequently provided ‘additional information’ to address councillors’ concerns, which included assurances over e-scooter charging points, microwaves in shared kitchens and the addition of solar-panel units on the roof of the 18-storey co-living tower featuring 209 studios.

General

Property Week reports that construction projects are facing costly overruns. Major construction projects face significant cost and development overruns, according to the fifth annual CRUX Insight Report from risk mitigation and dispute resolution consultancy HKA. HKA investigated 1,602 projects in 100 countries over five years to the end of July 2022 valued at more than $2trn (£1.8trn). The total value of claims analysed exceeded $80bn (£70bn), while the cumulative overruns extended to 840 years.

Architects journal reports that Lucy Frazer replaces Lee Rowley as latest housing minister. The MP for South East Cambridgeshire replaces Lee Rowley, who had been brought in as part of former prime minister Liz Truss’s reshuffle and who had initially been thought to have retained his job after Rishi Sunak became prime minister. But Rowley has now left the role at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) after just two months – though he remains as a parliamentary under secretary of state in the department. Before him, Chris Pincher, Stuart Andrew and Marcus Jones had all briefly held stints as housing minister in 2022.