Andrew Hillier

It is a hot day at Brent Cross Town in north-west London and some locals are struggling in the heat. John Collyns, however, seems unfazed by the rising mercury. Perhaps it is not surprising given that Collyns, executive director of the Retirement Villages Association in New Zealand, is used to temperatures above today’s 22 degrees in his homeland.

There have been murmurings that Canary Wharf’s time might be up as a prime office location in the post-Covid, working-from-home world.

Proposals to allow developers to build on neglected areas of green belt might be grabbing the headlines in the run-up to the general election, but for Mark Allan, chief executive of property giant Landsec, it isn’t these contentious ‘greyfield’ sites that require the most attention.

The cold and dingy underground 1960s car park in the Brunswick Centre near London’s Russell Square does not immediately seem like the perfect location for a city stay.

Before Covid, developer and investor SUSD was riding the crest of a wave. It had opened private members’ club The Devonshire in the City of London in 2017 and its services as a high-end developer specialising in hospitality were in demand.

It was anger and frustration that fuelled Hannah Chappatte’s desire to set up online student accommodation platform Hybr in 2019.

There was a time when taking a trip to Aldi would involve a lengthy car journey because stores were so few and far between and often located in unusual places.

To redevelop, or not to redevelop and instead knock down and start again: that is the question facing owners of ageing commercial buildings. For office developer and landlord Kinrise, there is no debate: existing buildings should almost always be retained and refurbished to the highest standard.

Prime rental values for industrial and logistics (I&L) property in the UK have grown at a compound rate of 8.2% a year over the past five years, according to property services firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W).

Looking out across London from the library room on the 48th floor of the Enclave co-living development in Croydon, south London, John Fleming is eager to point out the landmarks in the distance.