Government Launches Voluntary Gender Pay Gap Action Plans
The UK government unveiled guidance urging companies with more than 250 employees to publish voluntary gender‑pay‑gap action plans alongside their annual pay‑gap data. The plans must detail steps to close pay gaps, support employees through menopause, and address broader menstrual health issues. Firms are required to assign a senior director or partner as the accountable officer and post the plan on the public gender‑pay‑gap service. While currently voluntary, the guidance signals a possible mandatory requirement by 2027.
Canmoor Acquires Birmingham Manufacturing Hub for £10.4m
Canmoor, a UK developer and asset manager, has purchased a Birmingham car‑component factory from the Canal & River Trust for £10.4 million (approximately $12.8 million). The 111,727 sq ft warehouse at Redfern Park Way, Tyseley, is currently leased to Sertec Group, which has spent years upgrading...
Two Thirds of Investors Boosted Their Healthcare Allocation in 2025, CBRE Finds
In 2025, 68% of real‑estate investors increased their healthcare allocation, driving roughly $12.5 bn into the care‑home sector, which represented 79% of all healthcare investment. The surge was anchored by Welltower’s $6.5 bn purchase of Barchester Healthcare and a $1.5 bn acquisition of...
Government’s £16bn National Housing Bank Opens for Business
Homes England has launched the National Housing Bank (NHB) with a £16 bn (≈$20.5 bn) capital base to fund 500,000 new homes. The bank aims to mobilise about £53 bn (≈$67.8 bn) of private capital through debt, equity and guarantee products, including £2.5 bn (≈$3.2 bn)...
Canary Wharf Gets Green Light for Revamp of 33 Canada Square
Canary Wharf Group has secured planning consent to refurbish the former 33 Canada Square, rebranding it as One Eden. The 545,000‑square‑foot office tower will be transformed into an all‑electric, mixed‑use building with retail, a possible rooftop restaurant, and extensive green...
Allsop Raises over £105m at Commercial and Resi Auctions
Allsop reported raising over £105 million (approximately $133 million) in two days of March auctions, splitting £60 million ($76 million) from a commercial sale of 70 lots and £45 million ($57 million) from a residential sale of 208 lots. The commercial auction posted an 88% success...
Muse and WCHC Get Green Light for Manchester Affordable Homes Scheme
Muse and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group have secured planning consent for Alpha House, a 125‑unit affordable‑rent development in Greater Manchester. The project forms part of a £500 m (≈$635 m) town‑centre regeneration masterplan that aims to deliver up to 2,000 homes over...
Retail Top Choice for Scottish Commercial Property Investors, Knight Frank Reports
Retail properties dominated Scottish commercial real‑estate investment in Q1 2026, representing over half of all spending. Investors placed roughly £216 million (about $274 million) into retail deals out of a total £387 million ($492 million) market. The average transaction size rose to £16 million ($20 million),...
Starbucks Announces Plans for 500 New Stores Across the UK
Starbucks announced a plan to open 500 new stores across the United Kingdom over the next five years, with more than 75 locations slated for this financial year. The expansion follows the recent closure of 10 UK sites, including six...
New Mac Mic Land Chief Exec Unveils 35,000-Home Expansion Plan
Mac Mic Land, a family‑owned land‑promotion firm, announced a plan to provide land for more than 35,000 homes across the United Kingdom. The company will increase its portfolio from 62 to 85 sites within six months under new chief executive...
Metrocentre Partners with Council for 4,500-Home Metro Riverside
Metrocentre has sealed a landmark partnership with Gateshead Council to launch Metro Riverside, a mixed‑use regeneration scheme on under‑used brownfield land. The development will deliver 4,500 homes, new transport links and leisure facilities, while creating roughly 5,000 jobs. It forms...
Tishman Speyer Snaps up Lazari’s Pall Mall Office
Tishman Speyer has purchased 50 Pall Mall, a prime grade‑A office building in St James’s, London, for roughly $78 million. The 33,888 sq ft property, built in 1913 and 87% occupied, was acquired from Lazari Investments, which bought it for £61 million in 2019. Tishman plans a...
Plus Dane Housing Wins £60m Loan From HSBC
Plus Dane Housing, a UK social‑housing association, has secured a five‑year loan facility of £60 million (approximately $76 million) from HSBC UK. The financing will be used to maintain its existing stock of homes and to fund growth targets outlined in its...
Aparthotel Locke to Open Sixth London Location in Canary Wharf
Edyn’s upscale aparthotel brand Locke is set to launch its sixth London property in Canary Wharf, a 19‑floor waterfront building with 279 rooms slated for a May opening. The development includes a ground‑floor communal café and a later‑opening rooftop restaurant...
Harbert Buys 535-Bed Liverpool PBSA Asset From Blacklight
Harbert European Real Estate (HERE) has purchased the 535‑bed Limelight student‑housing complex in Liverpool from Blacklight Capital Partners. The asset, spanning 162,554 sq ft, was previously marketed for over £61 million (approximately $78 million) but the final price remains undisclosed. Since opening in 2024,...
Octopus Capital and Bellway Plan128 Kent and Sussex Affordable Homes
Octopus Capital has entered a forward‑funding agreement with Bellway Homes to deliver 128 affordable homes across Kent and East Sussex. The project will comprise 30 units in Iwade, 77 in Hailsham and 21 in Bexhill, split between 89 rental units...
Former Olympian Homes CEO Simpson Joins £500m Living Platform
Former Olympian Homes CEO Richard Simpson has been appointed managing director of investment for a new UK living platform founded by Student Roost creator Tim Butler. The platform, backed by Australia’s largest pension fund AustralianSuper, has secured a £500 million (≈ $625 million)...
Marlow Studios Snaps up HQ Building for £1bn Buckinghamshire Project
Marlow Studios has purchased a 12‑acre office building, providing 230,000 sq ft of high‑grade space, to serve as the early headquarters for its landmark £1 billion (≈$1.25 billion) film studio project in Buckinghamshire. The site sits adjacent to a 90‑acre development that received government...
Investec Provides £22m Loan for Greenridge’s Bristol Office Acquisition
Investec Bank has extended a £22 million committed loan to Greenridge Opportunities Fund to acquire and refurbish the 100,000‑sq‑ft 3 Temple Quay office building in Bristol. The 48‑month facility provides an initial tranche and a separate capital‑expenditure tranche to fund a...
BP Signs Lease for New Global HQ at Landsec’s Timber Square
BP has signed a 192,000 sq ft lease with Landsec for its new global headquarters at Timber Square in London’s Bankside. The agreement covers the entire 15‑storey Ink building within the 365,000 sq ft Timber Square scheme, which is now 54% let at completion....
LondonMetric Secures £1.5bn Refinancing Facility
LondonMetric Property has secured a £1.5 bn refinancing package, comprising a £1.3 bn syndicated loan and a £200 m bilateral facility, to replace almost all unsecured debt maturing over the next four years. The new debt structure includes two‑year and three‑year term loans...
Promise of AI-Driven Efficiencies Draws Investors to Hotels, C&W Reports
European hotel investors remain bullish for 2026, driven by AI‑enabled cost efficiencies, according to Cushman & Wakefield. 58% plan to allocate more capital than in 2025, and 54% intend to be net buyers, while only 7% expect to sell. AI is...
Aureon and Caisson iO Launch Industrial Platform with Double Acquisition
Aureon Partners and Caisson iO have launched a UK multi‑let industrial property platform, initially funding £36 million of acquisitions in Weston‑super‑Mare and Leeds. The Weston Industrial Estate adds 303,000 sq ft across 64 units, while Metro Park contributes 52,000 sq ft of light‑industrial space. The platform...
Defra Commits £100m to Speed up Sustainable Planning Decisions
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has earmarked £100 million over three years to accelerate planning decisions for major projects while upholding environmental standards. The funding will boost staffing and introduce digital systems to streamline environmental assessments,...
MetroLink Signs for 49,500 Sq Ft Offices at Dublin’s Coopers Cross
MetroLink has signed a lease for 49,500 sq ft of Grade‑A office space at Kennedy Wilson’s Coopers Cross campus in Dublin’s north docklands. The mixed‑use development totals 381,000 sq ft, features an intelligent building system, and boasts LEED, WELL and BREEAM Platinum certifications along with...
Supermarket Income REIT Closes in on £1bn Value Target for Blue Owl JV
Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR) has more than doubled the value of its joint venture with Blue Owl Capital to £845 million, edging close to its £1 billion AUM target. The partnership, launched in April, added £398 million of acquisitions in the second half...
Landsec Reports Leasing Drive From AI and Tech Firms at MYO King’s Cross
Landsec reports that its premium flexible workspace MYO at King’s Cross has surpassed 60% occupancy within six months, driven primarily by AI and technology firms. More than ten tech companies, including Perplexity AI and PlanHat, have signed leases, and the...
Flex Firms Warn of Increasingly ‘Impossible Position’ over Rates Reclassification
Flexible workspace operators are confronting a steep rise in business rates after the Valuation Office Agency reclassified serviced office buildings, shifting full liability onto operators and stripping small‑business relief. The new methodology has produced rateable‑value increases of up to 40%,...
Manchester Stock Exchange Hotel to Open 95-Room Extension
Manchester’s Stock Exchange Hotel has secured planning permission to add a 95‑room extension, branded Stock Exchange Suites, slated for an early 2027 launch. The new building will sit opposite the existing five‑star property and feature a 1,000 sq ft Traders Lounge, gym...
Hounslow Unveils £7.5bn Golden Mile London Regeneration Plans
Hounslow Council unveiled the Golden Mile London regeneration programme, a 15‑year, £7.5 billion initiative. The plan calls for 14,000 new homes and aims to generate 25,000 jobs in creative, digital and technology sectors along the 4 km stretch between Heathrow and central...
Deepki Launches New Benchmark for Decarbonising Real Estate
Deepki has introduced a Sustainability CapEx Index that benchmarks the capital expenditure required per square metre to decarbonise real‑estate portfolios by 2050. The index leverages Deepki’s AI and thermodynamic software to model virtual renovation scenarios across more than 3,000 European...
Prologis Submits Plans for 762,000 Sq Ft Unit at DIRFT
Prologis UK has submitted proposals for DC762, a 762,000‑square‑foot distribution centre at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT). The cross‑docked building will feature an 18‑metre clear height, 114 dock doors, BREEAM “Outstanding” and EPC “A+” certifications, and a 700 kWp...
Liverpool Launches £2bn Investment Fund to Boost Housing and Regeneration
The Liverpool City Region has unveiled a £2 bn Investment Fund designed to accelerate housing construction, office and lab development, and transport upgrades. The fund aggregates existing and new public capital to support a £2 bn pipeline of up to 64,000 homes...
Tower Hamlets Seeks Partners to Bring Forward 52,000-Home Pipeline
Tower Hamlets council is courting development and investment partners to deliver a 52,000‑home pipeline under its Future Places programme. The plan allocates up to 10,000 homes in south Poplar and Billingsgate, 3,300 across more than 40 council‑owned sites, and 1,100...
London Flex Market Splits as Managed Offices Hit 40% Price Premium, Rubberdesk Reports
London’s managed office segment now commands a roughly 40% price premium over serviced desks, averaging £230 more per seat, according to Rubberdesk data. In Q4 2025 managed supply rose 5.5% while serviced office stock contracted 7.3% and prices fell 4% year‑on‑year....
SanRaj Snaps up Three-Hotel Portfolio as Group Expands UK Presence
SanRaj Group, through its Clearsense Ventures platform, has purchased a three‑hotel portfolio from Ares Real Estate funds and EQ Group. The assets include the 196‑key Novotel Leeds Centre and two 141‑key hotels – Novotel Glasgow Centre and Ibis Glasgow –...
MCR Property Group Launches £360m Flow Student Platform
MCR Property Group has unveiled Flow Student, a purpose‑built student accommodation platform valued at £360 million in gross development value. The platform currently operates roughly 6,000 beds across six UK cities and aims to reach 15,000 beds – a £1 billion portfolio...
