LDN Weekly – Issue 269 – 24 May 2023 - Business as usual
BUSINESS AS USUAL
This week we bring you a classic, back-to-basics edition of LDN – all about property, planning, politics and all the other things that make London tick.
| No images? Click here  BUSINESS AS USUALThis week we bring you a classic, back-to-basics edition of LDN – all about property, planning, politics and all the other things that make London tick. We open with what seems to be an increasingly successful campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for foreign visitors, which London’s wider visitor economy has long clamoured for. There’s also the usual roundup of key planning decisions and related research, coverage of the latest from the boroughs’ housebuilding programmes, major news from our long-standing clients Related Argent, as well as the state of the wider construction and health estate sectors. For the politicos amongst our readers, this edition also includes the latest from the borough’s “AGM season”, the London Conservative Mayoral candidate contest, and sparring between the national Conservative and Labour parties over policy for the built environment. And finally, we bring you a debrief from a very busy trip to Leeds for this year’s UKREiiF conference. We hope you enjoy this edition and if you don't already, do follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin. You can also visit our website for more information on LCA’s team, services, and clients. And finally, a technical note: If you like hearing from us, make sure to add ldn@londoncommunications.co.uk to your contacts or ‘safe sender’ list – this will help ensure our news bulletin lands in your inbox.  TAXING TOURISTSLondon’s retail and hospitality industries may be inching closer to reviving tax-free shopping for foreign visitors. The sector has, over the course of this spring, stepped up calls for tax-free shopping for overseas visitors to be revived. Walpole, a sector body representing UK luxury brands, has recently produced The State of London Luxury 2023 report in association with LCA client Cadogan, which among other things warns that without tax-free shopping, ‘other European capitals will continue to erode London’s number one status as a shopping destination.’ It’s not just a London concern and indeed the chief executive of VisitBritain and VisitEngland (public bodies sponsored by national government), has also joined the chorus. The scheme had enabled non-EU visitors to claim back VAT on purchases while in Britain, but it was scrapped in 2020 by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak. Liz Truss’ administration promised to bring it back, but her ‘Mini Budget’ crashed and burned along with her brief premiership. It now seems that under sustained pressure spearheaded by a host of major London-based organisations including LCA clients Knightsbridge Partnership, the Government might, just might, be reconsidering. Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston and Minister for London Paul Scully last week signalled they are open to the idea and while the Treasury has rushed to deny this is official Government policy, one has to wonder whether, per the Evening Standard, ‘the tide is starting to turn.’ LONDON PLANNING ROUNDUP
BUILDING BOROUGHSA week on from the announcement that the GLA has met a key target for affordable housing starts, ambitious borough-led housebuilding projects are progressing at pace. Here’s just a smattering of the latest:
AGM SEASON, CONT'DLCA’s borough specialists have been keeping a close eye on the latest London borough Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and we bring you highlights from some of the latest.
MAYORAL HOPEFULS LATESTThe Conservative Party’s selection process for the 2024 London mayoral race has closed, after attracting what may be a record list of nine hopefuls. LCA understands that the following is the list of aspiring candidates that have submitted formal applications, in alphabetical order:
Nick Rogers, another London Assembly Member who declared early, has pulled out of the race and endorsed Scully. A shortlist of aspirants drawn from the above will be put before several hustings and finally to a vote by Conservative party members in London. The winner will be announced on 19 July – and then the real work starts.  WE, THE BUILDERSThe Labour Party is airing yet more policies for the built environment as part of its bid to be seen as ‘the party of homeownership.’ We’ve previously covered Labour’s emerging policy arsenal in an in-depth report published earlier this year and in more recent editions of LDN. Last week, the Leader of the Opposition went further than previously, making a splash with a widely-trailed speech to the British Chambers of Commerce and a separate interview with The Times. But beyond slogans and incendiary headlines, Starmer’s positioning was pretty carefully-worded. A pledge to ‘bring back housing targets’ sounds clear enough, but the devil will be in the detail. A promise to ‘take on planning reform’ means, well, very little as it stands. A commitment to ‘streamline’ planning for infrastructure and commercial development is easier said than done. And assurances that he will ‘remove the veto used by big landowners to stop shovels hitting the ground,’ is populism, not policy. Starmer’s Times interview was meanwhile published under the headline ‘I’ll allow more homes on the green belt.’ We looked more closely and what Starmer actually said is that he sees a ‘need to have that discussion,' underlining that it’s ‘not as binary or straightforward’ as people sometimes think. Equally important as the above is what the Party has been steering clear of and here a ‘leaked’ document from the Labour Party’s National Policy Forum is instructive. While it hints at bold plans to ‘repurpose and reform’ Homes England and other key policies, it does not pledge to abolish Right to Buy and it certainly contains no mentions of rent controls, with Labour signalling elsewhere that the latter will not be included in its manifesto. NO, WE THE BUILDERSThe Conservative Party has been in a tizz over housing and planning reform for a while now, but Labour’s big push may have given them a flag to rally ‘round. Clearly, Starmer’s comments were a godsend for the party’s spin doctors, with the Prime Minister wasting little time in coming out swinging. Speaking to reporters during his trip to Japan for the G7 summit, Rishi Sunak said that he is resolute about ‘mov[ing] away from a system of nationally imposed top-down housing targets on local areas,’ adding ‘I was very clear over the summer I wanted to make sure our green spaces are protected. I think that is what local communities want.’ The Government is, however, less-than-resolute about leasehold reform. Following reports that the next round of legislation in this area is to be delayed and watered down, junior DLUHC ministers Rachel Maclean and Lee Rowley were dispatched to explain the situation to MPs an Opposition Day Debate yesterday. They performed admirably under pressure but were markedly unable to give the House specifics. One wonders why it was they and not Secretary of State Michael Gove – who is usually keen to be seen championing reform in this area – facing the music. RELATED ARGENT NEWSLongstanding LCA client Related Argent (formerly Argent Related and before that Argent, of King’s Cross fame) have announced major corporate and leadership restructure plans. From May 2024, the company will formally transfer its employees, projects and assets to Related Argent Limited. From the transfer date, the business will operate solely under the Related Argent name. As for its leadership, the long-serving Robert Evans has stepped down as Joint Managing Partner of Argent but will remain as Partner and CEO of King’s Cross until his departure around the time of the business transfer. Nick Searl will continue as Managing Partner of Argent until the business transfer. Tom Goodall, Partner and Head of Residential for Related Argent has now become Managing Director of Related Limited effective immediately and lead the combined business from 1 May 2024. Nick Searl and fellow Partners André Gibbs, Morwenna Hall and Mike Lightbound will all become Executive Directors, and David Partridge will continue as the Related Argent Chair – all working closely with Ken Wong, Co-Founder of Related Argent and COO of Related Companies. The consolidated business will number 200-or-so employees overseeing a £9bn+, 12m sq ft mixed-use development pipeline, including at Brent Cross Town, Tottenham Hale, as well as the build-to-rent development Author Kings’ Cross . For further details on Related Argent’s plans, see the press release. CONSTRUCTION WOESJust when it looked like the construction industry was recovering… the outlook seems to be worsening. According to data from Barbour ABI, contract awards in the built environment fell by a third in April, the lowest month since May 2020. The fall is thought to be caused by uncertainty in the wider economy, as well as in the industry itself, a point also raised at UKREiiF last week when panellists discussing net zero called for more clarity from Government on the introduction of minimum energy standards. Firms across the construction industry are generally facing difficulties, with construction firm Keltbray announcing that it will cut about 30 back-office roles to improve efficiency, while brickmaker Forterra has reported a 24% drop in revenue compared to the same time last year. And while big-hitter Vistry has said that it is expecting to make a pre-tax profit of over £450m, its shareholders have voted against its remuneration report, leading the housebuilder to reconsider its pay plans, including changes to bonuses. PAIN RELIEF?Progress on the Government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP) is lagging, though it looks like there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. The plans for the delivery of 40 new hospitals by 2030 were first announced by Boris Johnson ahead of the 2019 General Election. They were greeted by widespread scepticism for the use of the term ‘new’ – as it quickly emerged that not all of the 40 would be brand new hospitals, with the figure including several refurbs of existing hospitals and the delivery of smaller health centres. Nobody, however, has contested the need to modernise the NHS estate. Sadly, progress has varied, with the allocation of promised funding a key sticking point. The BBC has found that work is yet to start on 33 of the promised projects, with 31 of the hospitals saying that the primary issue holding the projects back is a lack of funding for the works. Construction on five of the projects is underway, while work has been completed on just two of the new hospitals. Building has since reported that the Government is set to announce a new funding package for the NHP imminently… but nothing seems to have materialised as of writing. Separately, on Monday the Labour Party outlined its own plans for the NHS, with Keir Starmer announcing that in Government the Party would assess all NHS capital projects to ‘make sure that money is getting allocated efficiently’. 
LCA was on the ground at UKREiiF, in force, hosting our own events and supporting clients with their programmes. We hosted the official Opportunity London drinks reception, welcoming over 160 clients and senior political stakeholders at the fabulous Scarborough Pub. LCA Partner and Co-Managing Director, Politics, Engagement and Planning Jane Groom chaired a panel about The Building Safety Act and the implications that it will have on the built environment sector and investment for our client Hydrock. Elsewhere, LCA Senior Advisor Sarah Rawlings chaired the latest iteration of 'A Place at the Table' for Stride Treglown, a year on from the first of this event series that considers topics around placemaking. We also supported clients Avison Young │UK in hosting the ‘Leadership Matters’ breakfast event and two panels to consider what we can learn from what’s been done to date and what needs to be done to transform the cities and regions to accelerate growth across the UK. We further managed a programme of speaker slots for Lendlease, curating a panel on day three focused on communicating social value to investors, and delivering two podcasts with EG recorded ‘live from UKREiiF’ to be released next week. And it didn’t rain….
Five of the LCA team will be lacing up their running shoes tomorrow evening for the annual HD5K charity run in Hyde Park, raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. Organised by the Alan Davidson Foundation, over 100 participants from the built environment sector will be taking part in memory of Alan Davidson, the founder of Hayes Davidson who was diagnosed with MND in 2012. Alan was also a Non-Executive Director of LCA and sadly passed away in 2018. If you would like to donate you can do so here – all funds will be matched by the Alan Davidson Foundation. Best of luck to all the runners! LDN CONTRIBUTORSRobert Gordon Clark, Senior Advisor and Partner Stefanos Koryzis, Account Director, Insight Emily Clinton, Account Manager, Insight Daniel Reast, Insight Executive LCA prides itself on its intelligence-led approach to PR and communications and our dedicated insight team monitors London politics, news and issues as it happens. If you would like to know more about LCA or anything in this edition of LDN – London in short please get in touch.If you have received LDN Weekly indirectly and would like to subscribe to receive it every week, please click here to register your details.LDN is put together by a dedicated team at London Communications Agency. The content for each edition is developed from news drawn from the last week from every London local paper as well as the regional and national press, from intelligence gathered by monitoring local, regional and national government activity and from the insight and expert knowledge of the entire LCA team.    |