Construction and property news
- Office space | A survey by the CBI and PwC showed that 74% of financial services firms are reviewing their space with a view to either use it differently or reduce it as the future of work becomes a more hybrid solution.
- Foreign investment | Suntec Reit will acquire a 50% stake in LandSec’s Nova buildings from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. It is the Singaporean fund’s first deal in the UK.
- Shopping centre rents | Landlords are still struggling to collect rents, with some centres only collecting a third of rents due.
- SME builders | According to the Federation of Master Builders 40% of SME builders reported that workloads had “bounced back” recently, largely due to household repairs and improvements. The survey also showed that 78% of the industry expects material prices to increase.
- Output | Monthly construction output increased by 3% in August, a much slower rate of growth than seen in July (17%), although it still represents an improvement.
- Warehouses | Work has started on what will be Amazon’s largest fulfilment centre in Europe which is to be based in Dartford, Kent. The building will have an internal floor area of 2.3m sqft and will see £125m spent on the building and £125m spent on robotics and automation.
- Data centres | Fears that data centre operators would move abroad due to Brexit do not seem to have materialised. Analysts say the market has grown since 2016 and will continue to do so, at the same rate as growth in the EU. Movement of data is worth £174bn to the UK economy.
- Hospitals | The government announced 40 major hospital projects as part of a £3.7bn Hospital Infrastructure Plan. New standards will be developed to allow for standardised designs which make use of modular construction methods.
