Lem Bingley

It’s often argued that the current government is Labour in name only. Ask a chilly pensioner: they would probably agree.

In February last year, chartered surveying body RICS issued an alert reminding members of their “legal, professional and regulatory obligations” when acting as expert witnesses in court.

A few years ago, I toured a crash test facility built by Swedish carmaker Volvo. It was an uneasy place to visit – a hushed, cathedral-sized space in which the safety-obsessed firm studied high-speed collisions.

Knight Frank’s NextGen Living report, released earlier this week, provides a handy snapshot of investor sentiment towards key residential assets and their development in 2025.

As 2024 draws to a close, many in our sector will take cheer from secretary of state Angela Rayner’s decision to permit redevelopment of Marks & Spencer’s Marble Arch store.

My word of the week is ‘tasseography’, or the art of reading tea leaves. What, in simpler terms, should we make of two big decisions made last week?

As always on Budget day, there is much to be learned from the reams of paperwork revealed in the moments after the chancellor has sat down.

The annual Property Industry Clay Pigeon Shoot, held in aid of charity Chickenshed Theatre Trust, this year saw 16 teams of varying ability assemble at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School to try to blast whizzing ceramic saucers out of the sky.

I met recently with an agent who had been tasked with finding suitable sites for a client in the electric vehicle (EV) charging sector. The well-funded client was seeking sites close to busy roads with plenty of parking space and nearby ‘dwell time’ activities like retail, entertainment or hospitality.

At the best of times, construction contractors operate on wafer-thin margins. As the collapse last week of major contractor ISG demonstrated, we are not operating in the best of times.