The Guardian reports that No Grenfell inquiry recommendations enacted by government, says Sadiq Khan. Findings published in October 2019 urge changes to legislation and development of guidelines for large-scale evacuations. Ministers have “failed to complete a single recommendation” from the first phase of a public inquiry into the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, Sadiq Khan has said. The inquiry, which looked at where the June 2017 fire originated and how it spread to kill 72 residents in the north Kensington tower block, published its findings in a report in October 2019.

Property Week reports Green office scheme The Dock hits west London market. Resolution Property has brought a new green office scheme in west London to market. Allsop and Hanover Green have been appointed as letting agents on The Dock, a 65,000 sq ft office space that forms part of the developer’s Gramophone Works scheme. The former home of Saga Records was acquired in 2015 by Resolution Property, which undertook a large-scale transformation of the property, bringing the existing fabric up to date while also preserving the site’s industrial heritage. The two-storey building, which dates back to 1930s, was extended outwards and upwards and now offers 64,132 sq ft of office space across six floors.

Love Lambeth reports that Lambeth Council to start £4million investment in Brixton Rec Quarter. Lambeth Council is set to start work on the £4million ‘Revitalising Brixton’s Rec Quarter’ project to upgrade Brixton Station Road and the public areas of Brixton Rec with new affordable workspace, street improvements, new shopfronts, and essential works to support market traders, following the success of two planning applications in November 2021 and January 2022. The project will see significant investment in central Brixton and increase skills, training and employment opportunities for Lambeth residents and businesses. Brixton Recreation Centre will remain a staple feature of the area with planned refurbishments and a wider community offering for local people. Designs have been developed by muf architecture/art working closely with local businesses and community organisations including Brixton BID team, the Brixton Market Traders Federation, Brixton Rec User Group, the traders of the street, Photofusion and Max Roach Adventure Playground.

Property Week reports that Southwark Council has granted Art-Invest Real Estate outline consent for the development of Canada Water Dockside, an office-led scheme in south London. Canada Water Dockside is a 4.5-acre site adjacent to British Land’s Canada Water masterplan area, where Art-Invest will develop 1.5m sq ft of workspace alongside community spaces, with places to eat and drink on the ground floor. The application will be supported by a series of detailed reserved matters applications in the coming months. Art-Invest expects to start work on the scheme in spring 2023. Art-Invest UK managing director Ali Abbas said: “I would like to extend my thanks to Southwark Council and the local communities around Canada Water who have given considerable time and effort to shaping the vision for Canada Water Dockside.

Property Week reports that Investec Real Estate has provided student digs group Tribe with a £35m loan facility to fund the construction of a purpose-built student accommodation development in South Bermondsey, London. Investec Real Estate has provided student digs group Tribe with a £35m loan facility to fund the construction of a purpose-built student accommodation development in South Bermondsey, London. The deal is Investec’s first with student group Tribe. The project is Tribe’s first ground up student scheme, and will comprise 250 units, including 137 private ensuite rooms, 25 studios and 88 affordable ensuite units. The scheme will feature a collaborative workspace and 12,500 sq ft of commercial space. The loan is Investec’s first with Tribe, although Investec has worked with one of the borrower’s founders for a number of years who is a key client across the bank.

Architects Journal reports that Allies and Morrison and Ash Sakula have won a competition to expand Southwark’s Low Line scheme into neighbouring Lambeth and Wandsworth. The scheme, for neighbouring Lambeth and Wandsworth councils, will rethink a series of Victorian railway viaducts in Vauxhall and Nine Elms. The winning team, which also features movement specialist Urban Flow and research consultant Hatch, will explore the potential for a new strategic walking route that helps unlock commercial, cultural and community opportunities across 250 railway arches. The project aims to connect the high-rise regeneration zones in Vauxhall and Nine Elms to Southwark’s nearby Low Line. Inspired by New York’s High Line, the scheme is a linear regeneration of underused 19th-century railway viaducts running through Bankside, London Bridge and Bermondsey.

Southwark Council celebrates building milestone on new council homes site in Rotherhithe. Southwark councillors and Tenants & Residents Association (TRA) members celebrated a topping out ceremony at the Haddonfield Garages site on Thursday 10 March 2022. Guildmore building contractors led a site visit of the two blocks which will provide 14 new council homes for social rent, as well as improvements to outside communal areas. Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness, Councillor Stephanie Cryan, laid a ceremonial brick to celebrate the building works reaching the roof level. Councillor Stephanie Cryan said, “I’m delighted to be here today to celebrate the important milestone the construction works have reached on this site. The Haddonfield Garages scheme sits in my ward so it’s an area that I’m very familiar with and it’s so exciting to see these wonderful, high-quality new council homes being provided for local people here”.

Green developer EDGE says London is “at the heart” of its expansion plans but that it is also considering entering other cities across the UK as well as the Republic of Ireland. The Dutch developer, which is behind The Edge in Amsterdam, labelled by BREEAM “the world’s most sustainable office building” from 2014 to 2016, is currently developing two London projects, at London Bridge (pictured) and in Shoreditch. EDGE chief executive and founder Coen van Oostrom told Property Week it was “very busy working on a third and possibly even a fourth” London scheme. He added: “It is the largest office market in Europe – the Champions League of real estate. I’ve always seen doing business as a bit like doing sports; you want to win so you can go up to the next level.

Property Week reports that ZARA will open a 48,800 sq ft store on Electric Boulevard, a new high street that forms part of the Battersea Power Station development. The store will be the brand’s first central London outlet south of the river and will be spread across two floors. Simon Murphy, chief executive at Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC), said: “We are creating a completely new high street for London and to have an internationally renowned high-street brand like ZARA open a significant store in the UK, and the first store south of the river in central London, at Battersea Power Station is a testament to the continued desirability of this unique project. “With our very own London Underground station and river bus pier, we’re also set to be one of the best-connected shopping, dining and cultural areas in the capital and we look forward to welcoming visitors to Battersea Power Station from September.”

Property Week reports that Planning permission has been granted for a 26-storey residential tower in Nine Elms, south London, planned by VSM, a joint venture between builder VINCI UK Developments and developer St Modwen. VSM’s scheme, known as Apex 1, is set to provide 201 homes as well as 5,250 sq ft of retail space on land released as a result of the JV’s New Covent Garden Market redevelopment. Apex 1’s site is adjacent to the Nine Elms Northern Line tube station and close to the new US Embassy, and is part of the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea (VNEB) opportunity zone. It is the first building of the wider Apex development site, which has outline consent for a further 422 homes and 66,000 sq ft of commercial space. Nick Smith, senior development manager at St. Modwen, said: “Apex 1 promises to be a high-quality new scheme for Nine Elms. This latest planning decision means we can deliver new homes for the area while achieving another important milestone for the transformation of New Covent Garden Market.”

Property Week reports that The UK property industry has given a mixed reaction to chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement, welcoming the cut to VAT but criticising its lack of announcements on business rates and the ’levelling up’ agenda. In his address to the House of Commons today, Sunak said that the government will introduce a five-year relief on 5% VAT for homeowners with energy-saving materials such as solar panels, heat pumps or insulation. Additionally, the Chancellor said that beginning next month, the government is doubling the household support fund from £500m to £1bn in an effort to help the least well off to pay their energy bills. Sunak said: “As energy costs rise, we know that energy efficiency will make a big difference to bills. But if homeowners want to install energy saving materials, only some items qualify for a 5% VAT relief.

City A.M reports that Central London’s office market has marked £5bn investment turnover since the start of the year, as confidence in the category returns. Property advisors Knight Frank have revealed a 300 per cent increase in comparison to the first quarter of 2021 when there were transactions worth £1.2bn. There are £5.8bn worth of central London office deals currently under offer, with institutional investors targeting secure income opportunities and green premiums. Blockbuster deals to complete this year include  CK Asset Holdings’ £1.2bn sale of 5 Broadgate, let long-term to UBS, to Broadgate Five Holdings, Ho Bee Land’s £718m acquisition of The Scalpel and Sun Venture’s £120m purchase of WeWork-let 120 Moorgate. Deals have been driven by the capital’s higher yielding office assets in comparison to other cities and larger pool of green-rated stock.