Estates Gazette Property Podcasts

Why real estate should 'take happiness seriously'

Employers need to “take happiness seriously”. This was the main takeaway from the BCO’s final session at its 2019 conference in Copenhagen. EG  spoke to Woohoo’s chief happiness officer Alexander Kjerulf to find out just how workspaces can make people happier.

The PLA response on leasehold reform

Two members of the Property Litigation Association's law reform committee - Thekla Fellas, partner at Eversheds Sutherland, and Emily Wood, partner at DMH Stallard, outline the PLA's comprehensive responses to the Law Commission's leasehold reform project.

Fellas and Wood discuss each of the three consultations that comprise the project:

• leasehold enfranchisement;
• the right to manage; and
• commonhold, which provides an alternative form of ownership to residential leasehold.

In addition, they address the other aspects of leasehold law crying out for reform, and their hopes for the sector over the years to come.

Bricks & Mortar: Getting the most out of commercial lease negotiation

The commercial lease will be familiar to all property professionals. Yet there are many questions to consider when negotiating one. "Which standard lease should I use?" "Should I take a lease with or without 1954 Act protection?" "What is an FRI lease?"

Professional support lawyer, Katharine Fenn, answers these questions - as well as discussing the key sections that make up the lease and the things to keep in mind in relation to notices, break clauses, service charges and, importantly, repair.

She leaves listeners with her top tips for ensuring an efficient and effective negotiation and stresses the importance of agreeing heads of terms at the outset.

Future of Real Estate: The Office Group’s Charlie Green on the power of flex

Already accounting for 6% of London office space, flexible offices could double their share in the next few years. The growth of The Office Group has been as impressive. And it too has ambitions to grow – at home and overseas. Co-founder Charlie Green tells Damian Wild where the business is heading next and what that IPO could mean for the sector.

Leeds: the future is green

Leeds, the destination of EG’s latest Question Time debate, hit national headlines this year – for better and worse.

One particular good news story – the imminent arrival of Channel 4 into Leeds – was unsurprisingly the opening talking point of the debate. It was announced in April, with great fanfare, that the broadcasting giant had picked the Grade-II listed Majestic building as its new headquarters.

Bricks & Mortar: Five top tips for securing a planning permission

Securing planning permission is a key initial stage of any development scheme. But how best to do this?

Planning lawyer, Jay Das, offers listeners five top tips for securing a permission based on her experience of navigating the planning process. She discusses the need to keep it professional, listen carefully to what planning officers say and how ultimately persistence pays.

 

Future of Real Estate: 146 bedrooms for young people at risk of homelessness

LandAid House opens in Autumn 2019, providing 146 bedrooms for young people at risk of becoming homeless. It’s been made possible by a £1m donation from Mike Slade, president of the charity and the outgoing chairman of Helical. He explains to Damian Wild why he has made the donation and what he hopes it will deliver for the future.

Eleven years and counting: the sustainability challenge

There’s not much time left to avert a global warming disaster, and that means the real estate sector has to make big changes to existing building stock as well as to development projects in the pipeline.

The synergy between the UK and UAE markets

At EG's Middle East Real Estate Forum, Andrew Jackson, HM Consul General at the British Embassy Dubai, talks about how deeper relationships between these two markets are strengthening trading links, with the profile of the Middle East being boosted by UK central government. 

Bristol Question Time: ‘We’ve still got so much to achieve’

A joint spatial plan from the West of England Combined Authority aims to provide the development framework to guide the delivery of housing, employment and infrastructure up to 2036 across Bristol, Bath and Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Listen to panelists at EG’s Bristol Question Time discuss the challenges of creating more affordable housing, improving the city's digital and transport connectivity, and incorporating environmental considerations such as air quality.