City A.M. reports that the City of London Corporation is urged to reconsider an earlier decision to demolish historic buildings, including the Museum of London, in the capital’s Barbican area. A campaign has been launched. The City of London Corporation has submitted plans to demolish Bastion House and the Museum of London, replacing both with a 780,000 square feet office block development and relocating the museum. However, campaign group Barbican Quarter Action has written an open letter to the corporation urging them to reconsider the plans due to the economic and environmental problems it would create, which include creating a net increase in CO2.

Property Week reports that the Russian owner of the Evening Standard is set to move the London newspaper from Kensington’s Northcliffe House to the Alphabeta Building on the other side of central London in Finsbury Square. The Evening Standard is leaving its Derry Street home of 34 years, where it shared space with newspapers owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. Property Week understands the news group’s owner Evgeny Lebedev has agreed a deal to take on WPP’s remaining two-year lease for around 33,000 sq ft at Alphabeta, which sits on the fringes of the City of London near Shoreditch. The London newspaper will be joined in Alphabeta by its stablemate, The Independent, in the move east. The Evening Standard took up residence in Northcliffe House, which overlooks Kensington High Street, in 1988 following its move from Fleet Street along with the Daily Mail titles. Lebedev took control of the title in 2009 soon after it become a freesheet. Lebedev is also a minority shareholder in the Independent, which he bought from Independent News & Media in 2010.

Hammersmith & Fulham

Property Week reports that Ministry of Sound has agreed a deal with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield to convert a House of Fraser store in west London into a mixed-use venue comprising flexible offices, a gym and a rooftop bar. The Ministry Shepherd’s Bush will take up 115,000 sq ft, with work to convert the department store expected to begin later this year and completion due by Q1 2024. It will provide flexible office space for around 1,200 people, with private offices and hot-desking spaces, plus a public health and fitness offer, a members’ gym and a rooftop bar and restaurant. The Shepherd’s Bush development, with investment coming from both Westfield and Ministry, will be the second mixed-use space owned by the Ministry of Sound, which opened The Ministry Borough Road in 2018. The west London House of Fraser store will join a list of other stores to have closed since the group was bought by Mike Ashley’s retail empire in 2018. Ministry of Sound group chairman Lohan Presencer said: “Ministry of Sound has a long history of creating experiences that disrupt the norm and exceed all expectation, in nightclubs, music, live events, fitness and more recently workspace.

Property Week reports that Helical has let a floor of The Tower, its mixed-use scheme at The Bower, Old Street in London’s Midtown, to digital financing platform Stenn Technologies. Stenn has taken the 9,572 sq ft 12th floor on a five-year lease. The Tower, which has 171,432 sq ft of office space, is let at an average contracted rent of £73.46/sq ft to a diverse range of international businesses. “This letting takes The Bower back to being fully occupied and Stenn Technologies is a great addition to this incredible community of businesses,” said Tom Anderson, senior investment executive of Helical. Helical was advised by Compton and JLL. Stenn Technologies was advised by Colliers.

City A.M. reports that the filing of a €500m (£430m) lawsuit against Credit Suisse and Citco over the loss of millions in charitable funds through a Chelsea property deal has led to calls for greater transparency around the “origins of money used to purchase high-value property” in Britain. The calls come after Anglo-Italian financier Raffaele Mincione’s WRM Group filed a €500m lawsuit in a Luxembourg court, over claims the Swiss and British Virgin Islands’ banks failed to disclose that the €350m used to buy 60 Sloane Avenue in Chelsea came from the Vatican’s “Peter’s Pence” charitable fund. Mincione’ investment fund is now seeking €500m in damages over the “financial and reputational harms” both Mincione and WRM Group have suffered in the wake of the Chelsea deal, on the back of claims Citco and Credit Suisse failed to say the funds were intended for the needy. Joseph Sinclair, a legal researcher at Spotlight on Corruption, said: “The whole murky and sorry affair shows the vital need for transparency,” as he suggested the situation “could have been avoided with proper rigorous checks and procedures by those undertaking the deal.”

What House reports that Riverstone, a provider of exceptional London living for the over-65s, has opened its first residence in Kensington. Combining the finest design with exceptional amenities, 24/7 concierge service, the feel of a private members club with a close-knit community of like-minded residents; Riverstone represents the latest advancements in design, tech and well-being and showcases the future of later living in this country. Riverstone Kensington is a city sanctuary offering exquisite apartments for sale with outstanding amenities, extraordinary service, and health support from GDPQ and bespoke care from The Good Care Group at Riverstone. With a primary focus on well-being, there is a Fitness Studio featuring state of the art E-GYM equipment, Vitality Pool, Spa & Treatment Rooms and beautifully landscaped gardens by award-winning designer, Andy Sturgeon.

Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets council reports that it has had the biggest population increase in the country. Tower Hamlets has seen the biggest population increase in England and Wales – with the number of residents increasing by more than 22 per cent. The results were revealed by the Office of National Statistics in the 2021 Census results released on Tuesday and have heightened calls for better funding for the borough’s services to cope with the increased demand. Tower Hamlets is the densest populated borough in England with 15,695 residents per km2 – compared to the national average of 424 per km2. Tower Hamlets Council is already working hard to cope with the rise in population, and in the five years to 2021, built more affordable houses than any other London borough. However more investment is needed with 21,480 households on our waiting list. The council constantly reviews other service impacts of a changing population including demand for primary and secondary school places across the borough.

Westminster

Property Week reports that The University of London has placed a student accommodation scheme Lillian Penson Hall in the heart of Paddington on the market for £55m. The property has 313 student bedrooms with facilities over a lower ground, ground and six upper floors. The property has planning permission for an additional 17 bedrooms and further work to upgrade the existing rooms and facilities. It is being sold with vacant possession. Savills, which is marketing the property on behalf of the university, said the scheme is being sold as the University of London is focusing on future improvement and redevelopment work on its campus in the heart of Bloomsbury. Savills development director Darren Arnold said: “The sale of Lillian Penson Hall provides a rare and exciting opportunity to purchase a significant freehold asset in central London. The building is superbly placed and provides a variety of asset management opportunities.” A spokesperson from The University of London added: “The University of London has a mission to provide all staff and students with a first-class learning experience, whether that’s through our distance learning courses, or through their accommodation with us here in London.”

Property Week reports that Travel search platform Skyscanner has confirmed it will move its London head office to Soho Estates’ mixed-use development, Ilona Rose House. Skyscanner will take 29,500 sq ft across the fifth and sixth floors in the eight-storey Soho creative hub. The travel search firm will move its 300-strong London based workforce to the building, which is close to the new Elizabeth Line on Tottenham Court Road, in early 2023. Ilona Rose House is said to be the jewel in the crown of the Soho Estates portfolio, totalling 325,000 sq ft of mixed-use accommodation. With a further 26,500 sq ft already under offer, and some restaurant deals signed, only 55,000 sq ft of offices remain available over levels 1, 2 and 3. Philip Thompson, director at Soho Estates, said: “Soho Estates is dedicated to encouraging the creative industries, innovation and businesses in Soho. “Soho has long been the centre for creative industries and entrepreneurship. Ilona Rose House is a lively destination in Soho, and we identified this as an excellent opportunity to work with a fast-growing and unique company such as Skyscanner.”

Property Week reports that Sellar, on behalf of owner Great Western Developments, has pre-let all the 350,000 sq ft of office space available at Paddington Square, in central London. Global investment manager Capital Group has taken nine floors, doubling its office size to more than 220,000 sq ft for 10 years, relocating from Victoria. The new office will have a state-of-the-art 150-seater auditorium, a multi-purpose event space and multi-media studio capabilities. Sustainable packaging company DS Smith has signed a lease to create a new global HQ on the third floor, while retail giant Kingfisher will make the seventh floor its new UK HQ. The first occupiers will be moving in later in 2022, following the main building’s practical completion in early autumn. Paddington Square comprises 14 levels of light-filled, modern workspaces with views across London, around 40 retail and dining brands, west London’s highest rooftop restaurant and terrace and a new public piazza.

Property Week reports that the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally found that a group of 10 construction firms illegally colluded to rig bids for 19 contracts for demolition and asbestos removal jobs worth more than £150m. The contracts related to projects including, in London: 33 Grosvenor Place, 135 Bishopsgate, Bow Street’s Magistrates Court and Police station, the Metropolitan Police training centre, Selfridges, and offices on the Southbank; as well as work at Oxford University, and shopping centres in Reading and Taplow. The UK competition watchdog said eight of the firms involved in the illegal cartels had admitted to taking part between January 2013 and June 2018: Brown and Mason, Cantillon, Clifford Devlin, DSM, J F Hunt, Keltbray, McGee, and Scudder. The CMA said two other firms, Erith and Squibb, had not admitted to being involved in any bid rigging and it should not be assumed that they had broken the law. The watchdog said bids had been rigged with the deliberate intention of deceiving the customer that they were competitive. But instead, one or more of the firms had agreed to submit bids that were “deliberately overpriced” to lose the tender, a practice known as ‘cover bidding’.

Property Week reports that Vacant homes in London increase by the thousands, fuelling squeezed supply. Westminster has seen the number of vacant but owned homes jump by 48 per cent over the past year – the equivalent of nearly 2,500 homes – as property demand in London outpaces supply. London is the only region of England which has seen the number of vacant homes rise over the past year, according to estate agent comparison site GetAgent, with some of the wealthiest boroughs leaving good homes empty. Alongside Westminster, Camden’s vacant homes increased by 4,770 properties and Kensington and Chelsea saw an increase of more than 3,000 homes lying dormant in the 12-month period. Vacant properties have locked away almost £46bn worth of prime real estate, with London riddled with homeowners living outside of the city, awaiting more favourable price growth before selling their property. “The pandemic spurred an exodus of homeowners who headed for greener climbs and coastal locations. Some of whom won’t have sold their London property before doing so with an eye on returning to London further down the line,” CEO and co-founder of GetAgent, Colby Short, told City A.M.

The Times reports that some of Britain’s biggest office landlords came under heavy selling pressure yesterday after a large American investment bank warned that “real estate’s glory days are numbered”. Shares in Land Securities, Workspace and Great Portland Estates all fell by more than 5 per cent. British Land, which analysts at the Bank of America earmarked for a potential dividend cut, was the worst hit as it dropped by almost 9 per cent. Even Derwent London, which they think should be the “best place to seek shelter” given its modern office portfolio, retreated 4 per cent. In total, the falls chipped £1.4 billion off their combined stock market value. Investors took fright after analysts at Bank of America did an about-turn on their view of the office sector amid a “perfect storm” of factors weighing on the outlook and cut its earnings forecasts for office landlords by 7 per cent a year for the next ten years.