London office construction increases but pace of new building slowing down

London office construction increases but pace of new building slowing down 0

by • News, Property

building-infrastructureCentral London office construction has continued to rise over the past six months, reaching 14.8 million sq ft, and setting a new eight-year development high in the capital. The latest London Office Crane Survey by Deloitte Real Estate has recorded 40 new starts, adding 2.8 million sq ft into the development pipeline. Once again, the greatest number of new starts was in the City. Construction began on 14 new schemes, totalling 1.1 million sq ft, and increases the City’s development pipeline to 8.8 million sq ft. In contrast, the West End and Midtown submarkets have seen construction activity decrease by 25 percent and 20 percent respectively over the past six months. This is largely as a result of a number of projects completing and smaller schemes starting. For the first time, the crane survey also tracks construction activity in three additional locations: Vauxhall-Nine Elms-Battersea, White City and Stratford. These three areas boast 11 office schemes under construction and will deliver 2.9 million sq ft to the market, 65 percent of which is already pre-let.

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Increased take-up of office space in Manchester as Brexit influences investors 0

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

One St Peter's Square ManchesterTake-up of prime office space in central Manchester is on course to hit 1 million sq ft in 2016 and could be influenced by the impact of Brexit. The latest research by Colliers International suggests that overseas investors retained an interest in prime Manchester office space partly because of the devaluation of sterling following the Referendum vote for the UK to leave the EU – as proven by the recent £164m acquisition of the 288,000 sq ft One St Peter’s Square by global real estate investor Deka Immobilien. There have been a series of other major deals, including an insurance firm taking 165,000 sq ft of Grade A office scheme, a global law firm moving its global centre into an 80,848 sq ft development; and a government department negotiating a 60,000 sq ft deal. The legal sector accounted for almost 25 percent of total office take-up so far in 2016, followed by media and technology (16 percent) and business services (15 percent). However, all this activity may result in a lack of ready to occupy space in the city by early 2017.

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The UK’s infrastructure is improving but too slowly for most organisations

The UK’s infrastructure is improving but too slowly for most organisations 0

by • Flexible working, News, Property, Technology

technological-infrastructureAlmost half of firms (44 percent) believe the UK’s infrastructure has improved over the past five years, but only a quarter (27 percent) think it will pick up in the next five years, and two thirds (64 percent) suspect it will hamper the country’s international competitiveness in the coming decades, according to the 2016 CBI/AECOM Infrastructure Survey. Delivery of key projects already in the pipeline emerged as the top priority among the 728 firms surveyed. Delivery of £38 billion of investment in the rail network through Control Period 5 (99 percent of respondents), and £15 billion of investment in the UK’s motorways and A-roads through the Road Investment Strategy (97 percent of respondents) rank highly, as does delivery of a new runway in the South East (85 percent) & HS2 (80 percent). Many firms have specific concerns about teh country’s digital infrastructure including the ability tow work on teh go on trains and elsewhere.

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Defence estate to be cut by a third as part of new estate strategy

Defence estate to be cut by a third as part of new estate strategy 0

by • News, Property, Public Sector

estate-strategy-frontThe latest part of the UK’s vast public sector estate that is being primed for a large scale sell-off is that of the Ministry of Defence. According to a government statement, 91 sites including more than fifty barracks, naval sites and airfields will be sold under plans to shrink the size of the defence estate by nearly a third. The MoD predicts that the sale will raise around £1 billion and cut running costs by around £140 million per annum, while the rest of the estate will benefit from the investment of around £4 billion to improve housing and facilities for personnel. Perhaps surprisingly the MoD also owns five golf courses which will be sold as part of the shake up announced in the newly published A Better Defence Estate strategy document.

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Built environment urged to help summit meet climate change commitments 0

by • Events, Facilities management, News, Property

Built environment urged to help summit meet climate change commitmentsDelegates from across the World are gathering in Morocco this week for the 22nd global climate change summit, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP22), where they will focus on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. This historic agreement was reached last December at COP21 in Paris, France, when for the first time, 191 nations committed to collectively addressing the effects of climate change. The Paris Agreement aims to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius and to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It was signed by all negotiating countries and has thus far been ratified by 75 member states. However, despite the fact that the agreement entered into international law on the 4th November, the UK is yet to ratify it, which according to the UK-GBC’s Campaigns and Policy Director, John Alker, is “pretty poor. We cannot afford to be dragging our heels on this; not only is there a moral imperative to tackle climate change, but the economic case for action is huge.“

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Office space sees dip in demand post-Brexit says RICS

Office space sees dip in demand post-Brexit says RICS 0

by • Facilities management, News, Property

Office space demand fallsDemand for office space following the Brexit outcome remains flat according to RICS latest UK Commercial Market Survey 2016; and while the overall UK Commercial property market is showing some signs of a return to a more positive mood post-EU referendum, this has been driven mainly by the industrial sector. London and Scotland are lagging behind the rest of the UK, with Scotland seeing the sharpest drop in headline demand with 24 percent more chartered surveyors seeing a fall during Q3. In the capital, demand fell for the second consecutive quarter with offices seeing the most significant dip (22 percent more respondents reported seeing a fall in demand for London office space). Anecdotal evidence suggests that political uncertainty is still having an effect on both these markets. And the survey also found that respondents from German cities have seen enquiries from UK-based firms and expect there to be an increase in relocation away from Britain over the next two years.

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Nearly a third of investors say Brexit offers commercial real estate investment opps

Nearly a third of investors say Brexit offers commercial real estate investment opps 0

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

london-brexitThe recent warning that the major banks are planning to leave the Capital following the Brexit vote has understandably caused some concern within the commercial property sector;  so it’s cheering to hear that three in ten (30 percent) institutional investors actually believe Brexit will either increase or significantly increase European commercial real estate investment opportunities. A further one in four (23 percent) institutional investors believe that Brexit will have no impact on commercial real estate investment opportunities. According to a new study by BrickVest, following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, nearly two in five (38 percent) institutional real estate investors cited London as the top European city to invest in commercial real estate, ahead of Berlin (36 percent), Munich (31 percent) and Paris (22 percent). However, one in five (21 percent) cited both Dublin and Hamburg and a further 16 percent selected Frankfurt, highlighting a clear positive trend towards German commercial real estate. Indeed 40 percent of the top ten European cities were German.

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Corporate real estate sector continues to make progress in energy consumption, carbon emissions and water use

Corporate real estate sector continues to make progress in energy consumption, carbon emissions and water use 0

by • Environment, News, Property

marina_bayThe world’s leading corporate real estate owners and managers are making significant progress in reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions and water usage in their buildings, according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance. The Greenprint Performance Report, which measures and tracks the performance of more than 5,400 properties owned by Greenprint’s members, demonstrates a 3.4 percent reduction in energy consumption, a 3.9 percent reduction in carbon emissions and a 4.8 percent reduction in water use between 2014 and 2015. According to the study, since Greenprint started recording building performance in 2009, the energy consumed by members’ properties tracked by Greenprint has dropped 13.7 percent. Carbon emissions from those properties have decreased 16.5 percent; and water usage has dropped by 10.6 percent. The reductions occurred even as building occupancy rose, suggesting that greater space usage does not necessarily cause a decline in building performance.

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Uberification of work + Future of coworking + Quest for productivity

Uberification of work + Future of coworking + Quest for productivity 0

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

Tower 535 CoworkingIn this week’s Newsletter; Anthony Brown argues Uber’s success lends a name for a process that is reshaping the commercial property sector; Mike James wonders where the gig economy and zero hours contracts are taking us; and Mark Eltringham discusses the interaction of people and technology. Two new reports highlight the growth of the freelance workforce in the UK and US; researchers analyse the impact of coworking from a corporate real estate (CRE) perspective; Barclays presents its vision of the workforce of the future; and Herman Miller unveils a new Aeron chair.  The latest stage of the UK’s BIM Task Group programme is officially launched; responses to a government enquiry reveal the barriers the built environment still presents to disabled people; and a combination of financial, mental and physical health problems affect many workers. Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

New BIM initiative announced as report slams dysfunctional construction sector

New BIM initiative announced as report slams dysfunctional construction sector 0

by • News, Property, Technology

slide-image-3Digital Built Britain, the latest stage of the UK’s BIM Task Group programme, has officially been launched at the ICE BIM 2016 conference by Mark Bew, chair of the BIM Task Group. The launch comes in the wake of the publication of the Government commissioned Farmer Report into the state of the construction industry which laid out in stark terms the structural problems that suggest the sector risks terminal decline without innovation and cultural change. The report, subtitled Modernise or Die, suggests that the UK’s construction industry faces ‘inexorable decline’ unless longstanding problems are addressed. In particular, the review highlights the sector’s dysfunctional training model, its lack of innovation and collaboration, and a non-existent research and development (R&D) culture. First announced in the 2016 budget, Digital Built Britain aims to deliver reductions in the whole-life costs and carbon emissions of buildings, while improving productivity and capacity by using intelligent building information models, sensing technology and secure data and information infrastructure.  Digital Built Britain will also continue the work of the BIM Task Group programme, set up in 2011 to deliver a projected 20 percent saving on the costs of major projects.

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The global uberification of commercial property and the workplace

The global uberification of commercial property and the workplace 0

by • Facilities management, Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

uberificationTechnology doesn’t just transform the world, it reshapes our language. So, we all need to get used to the word uberification as well as the idea of it. Based on the success of the on demand taxi service Uber, the word refers to the way a product or service becomes available to customers on demand via the Internet. Customers book a service only at the point of consumption. This represents an entirely new commercial model and is the defining characteristic of the new 21st Century economy. Uber may have provided the tipping point, going from start up to market valuation of $66 billion in just 7 years, but its success has given us a name for a process that is reshaping businesses and customer experiences across the entire economy, including in the commercial property sector.

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London office sector still recovering from Brexit shock

London office sector still recovering from Brexit shock 0

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Wells Fargo move to West EndAlthough the UK economy has shown a measure of resilience post referendum, take-up in the key London office market, although still on a quarter to quarter rise of 34 percent, is 7 percent below its long term average. According to the latest London Office Snapshot from Colliers, transactions were largely boosted by major deals to Apple (500,000 sq ft) and Wells Fargo (220,000 sq ft), with both deals for new headquarters buildings, in Battersea and the City core respectively, being a major vote of confidence for London. In the City, the level of take-up demonstrated some positivity as it rose by 8 per cent quarter on quarter, though the quarterly take up is still 26 percent below average. Though pre-letting activity was healthy, doubling quarter on quarter, West End take-up was disappointingly subdued in the third quarter, falling further from the already sharply below trend Q2 total. Encouragingly, a number of deals that were seemingly ‘mothballed’ post referendum have now been concluded, albeit at marginally lower price points.

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