Estates Gazette Property Podcasts

The Future of Manchester - Session 2

Damian Wild, editor in chief and publisher, EG, interviews Manchester mayor Andy Burnham

The Future of Manchester - Question Time: Lessons from a crisis

As whispers of returning to the office start to become a reality for many Mancunians, social distancing restrictions will bring new challenges to the city. With less people commuting, will the rise of agile working become the new normal for Manchester?

• Does the concept of a “city" need to be redesigned?
• Should the purpose of office be refined?
• What does the rise of localism mean for the high street?

Speakers

James Evans, director, Savills

Professor Cathy Parker, co-chair, Institute of Place Management

Andrew Pattinson, partner, head of real estate Manchester, Shoosmiths

D’mitri Zaprzala, head of residential, Octopus Real Estate

A property litigator’s perspective on the new Code of Practice for commercial property relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic

On 19 June, the government published a raft of measures to help protect tenants from eviction over the summer.

It also introduced the Code of Practice for commercial property relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic – to encourage commercial landlords and tenants to work together to protect viable businesses. The voluntary code has been developed in collaboration with the retail, hospitality and property sectors and provides a framework for discussions between landlords and tenants.

To discuss the detail of the Code, how it might work in practice and whether it goes far enough, EG’s Sarah Jackman is joined by Jonathan Ross, a property litigator and partner at Forsters. He considers a range of issues and reflects on his experience of facilitating discussions between parties over the past few months.

For this and more make sure you tune in for the full discussion.

Bricks & Mortar: Seeking out opportunity in the graduate jobs market post-Covid

In this latest episode of Bricks & Mortar, Sarah Jackman is joined by Jane Batchelor – a careers consultant at Henley Business School at the University of Reading and two second year students at the same university: Megha Sharma (BSc Investment and Finance) and Toby Swindells (BSc Real Estate) to discuss the effect of the pandemic on those graduating in 2021.

Toby and Megha reflect on what they’ve experienced so far in relation to summer internships, why keeping an open mind on career path is important and how they plan to approach their graduate job searches in the autumn.

Jane considers what the recruitment process for 2021 could look like as well as giving advice on what undergraduates could be thinking about to help strengthen their skill sets.

All share optimism for the future and, as Jane reflects, “It might be challenging to secure that first job, but once into the industry, you can have such an interesting career. It’s going to give you great opportunities.”

"We have realised we are all humans, not just these creatures who work 9 to 5. We must bring that compassion into our communities." How can real estate respond to a wave of isolation-fuelled empathy?

On this special EG podcast on inclusive communities in partnership with DAC Beachcroft our guests consider and debate how real estate and the tech sector should respond to a collective increase in empathy and compassion within and between communities off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Host Emily Wright is joined by Virginia Clegg, partner at DAC Beachcroft, Neil Impiazzi, partnership development director at SEGRO and William Newton, president and MD of Wiredscore to discuss what a compassionate world post pandemic might look like and how technology and the real estate sector can support this.

From understanding how and why technology can be as divisive as it is cohesive if not approached democratically to the role communities and cities can play in the fight for equality this podcast opens up a raw and powerful discussion as we all navigate these challenging and unprecedented times.

Ad DAC Beachcroft's Virginia Clegg says on this episode: "Empathy and trust will be vital parts of our lives going forward and we must now make sure we don't lose those things."

For this and more make sure you tune into the full podcast.

HOK unveils £1m mobile COVID-19 testing labs, Boris’s “Project Speed” explained and the industry mourns the loss of a legend

On this week’s episode of EG’s We’re Still Here podcast Emily Wright is joined by EG residential reporter Emma Rosser for a round-up of the week’s news and HOK’s Gary Clark as the architecture practice releases designs for mobile COVID-19 testing labs.

Emma kicks off by relaying some of the tributes that have poured in from across the industry following the sudden death of Berkeley Group founder and chairman Tony Pidgley last week. An industry stalwart, the sector has lost a true legend. For more on the man known to some simply as "the guv'nor" be sure to read EG's obituary here https://www.egi.co.uk/news/he-was-the-doyen-of-residential-property-the-guvnor-of-that-business/. 

Also this week, Emma delves into Boris Johnson's "Project Speed" following the Prime Minister's announcement of the “most radical reforms to our planning system” since the Second World War. Under the reforms developers will be permitted to switch shops to homes and offices without the bother of a planning application. Proposals to demolish vacant shops and build homes will not require planning approval either.

And, of course, it wouldn't be We're Still Here without our now weekly Robert Jenrick update. Have a listen, you won't be disappointed.

Also this week, Emily Wright speaks to HOK's principal and science and technology leader Gary Clark about the design of mobile COVID-19 testing labs. Designed to address the needs of large institutions including colleges, universities, business parks, corporations and government offices, the £1m labs can accommodate up to nine staff workers and equipment capable of testing 80 samples at one time. The result would be mobile labs doing up to 1,120 tests a day.

For more on the design and Gary's thoughts on how the labs could become a significant part of the UK's response to COVID-19 as lockdown rules ease further, tune in to hear more.

Future of Real Estate: the LandAid QuaranTEN and London stalling?

This week the Future of Real Estate podcast takes to the road, or rather the Thames towpath. This year’s LandAid 10k isn’t happening but into its place jogs the QuaranTEN, raising money to end youth homelessness. Damian Wild sets out on a training run with Knight Frank senior partner Alistair Elliott to talk about how the event, taking place between 8 and 15 July, will work and at how Covid is changing London’s residential, office and retail markets.

The Business and Planning Bill, the PM's new deal and the future of planning

Hannah Quarterman, partner and head of planning at Hogan Lovells International, joins EG's Jess Harrold to look at the raft of planning changes that lie ahead through the soon-to-be-enacted Business and Planning Bill and prime minister Boris Johnson's pledge to reform the system.

Quarterman digs into the detail of the Bill, including the extension of the time period for implementing planning permissions, and explains how its provisions will work in practice.

 

In addition, she assesses the new permitted development right for additional floors on purpose-built blocks of flats, and gives her view on the PM's pledge to "build, build, build".

“Seeing this kind of enthusiasm for building is always attractive," says Quarterman, "it’s always great to hear that the government wants to see homes delivered and investment coming forward… But this enthusiasm needs to be tempered slightly by ensuring we are building the right thing, in the right place, in the right way.”

Is widescale reform what the planning system even needs? Take a listen to hear her thoughts.

Pressure mounts as Jenrick saga continues, the GLA eyes Royal Docks relocation as it plans to exit City Hall and WeWork slashes cost of new membership by 75%

On this week's episode of EG's We're Still Here podcast host Emily Wright is joined by residential reporter Emma Rosser and tech and global reporter Lucy Alderson after a week of colossal news stories, ongoing sagas and rising temperatures.

Emma kicks off this week's episode with an update on the ongoing Westferry Printworks story following the release of texts and emails that suggest housing secretary Robert Jenrick started pressing for approval on the £1bn Westferry Printworks scheme the day after he met with Tory donor Richard Desmond.

Papers released by the government – comprising communication between Jenrick, his department, Desmond and representatives of the media tycoon’s development firm Northern & Shell – indicated that Jenrick was “insistent” that a decision was reached before the scheme’s viability was “impacted by a change in the London CIL regime”.

Emma also discusses the news this week that the GLA is consulting on plans to exit City Hall and relocate to the Royal Docks in a bid to cut costs during unprecedented financial pressure as a result of Covid-19.

Then it's on to WeWork and Lucy's story that the co-working giant plans to slash new membership costs by up to 75% and considers what this means for WeWork specifically and the wider flexible office space more generally.

All this plus keeping cool in the hot weather and Lucy's plans to invest in a paddling pool on this week's episode of We're Still Here.

Bricks & Mortar: APC and the transition to permanent online assessment

Following the implementation of the UK lockdown, the RICS acted swiftly to move its session 1 2020 APC assessments online. The experience has been judged a success and the RICS has confirmed that all of its APC assessments will now take place online.

To discuss the change, EG's Sarah Jackman is joined by the RICS's assessment support manager, Gill Quinn and Roy Albert, a lead valuer in the Wales & West Regional Valuation Unit at the Valuation Office Agency, who has recently completed the APC assessment online.

Roy reflects on the experience itself - of overcoming initial anxiety to later benefiting from the availability of the RICS's support mechanisms - and offers practical tips for those preparing for online assessment later in the year.

Gill explains the background to the changes, looks at how they've been received from both an assessor and candidate perspective and highlights the benefits to being assessed using this new format.