In the latest episode of the politics and property podcast, former housing minister Mark Prisk and EG journo Piers Wehner plunge into the Autumn Statement, like giddy schoolboys attacking a pile of fallen leaves.

The chancellor pitched it as a boon for business, with the biggest ever business tax break sat at its heart, but is it as good as all that for the industry? Or are there, lurking beneath the golden leaves, a couple of snares lying in wait?

This ESG podcast investigates how real estate can look to amplify and intensify its deployment of renewable energy, address climate change and transitioning towards a viable energy future.

In this ESG podcast, EG hears more on the legal requirements and implications of the 2021 Environment Act for biodiversity net gain. How planners can collaborate with developers, local communities, landowners and farmers to deliver BNG beyond the development site and the challenges and opportunities of developing Local Nature Recovery Strategies for BNG.

Oxford Street has long been the backbone of London’s retail scene. It has been the capital’s high street for decades, but over recent years has lost some, if not all, of its shine. Covid hit the street hard and if you believe everything you read in some of our less expert media, the street is now full of Candy Stores and tacky souvenir shops.

The truth, of course, is something quite different.

Oxford street is very quickly being reborn, with a fresh mix of retailers, a fresh mix of uses and a more focused curation from those that own and operate the street.

Vacancy rates are falling, more than 23 candy stores have disappeared from the street – with more to come – some 19 new stores have opened on Oxford Street over the last year and 22 more are under offer.

In this episode EG editor Samantha McClary is joined by Savills’ head of global retail Sam Foyle, Sarah Goldman, head of retail at GPE, and retail expert Dan Hildyard for a behind the scenes tour of London’s most famous street as we seek to undo the “national embarrassment” reputation others suggest Oxford Street has become.

Enjoy.

Investor demand for hotels in the tourist hotspots and national parks of the south coast sparked a recovery in the transactional hotel market, which has now returned to pre-covid levels of activity, according to Christie & Co regional director of hospitality south Ed Bellfield.

Christie & Co comfortably leads in the Radius On Demand Rankings for investment sales in the hotel and leisure sector, with almost £70m of sales across 43 deals for the UK as a whole. It also leads the sector's investment rankings in both the South West and South East.

Bellfield says the transactional market for hotels ground to a half in mid-2020 but recovery came first to the tourist destinations on the south coast – where visitor numbers were bolstered by city dwellers looking to escape their urban environments - before spreading to the larger towns and cities. He also says there is a healthy development pipeline for new hotels, with environmental performance now a critical factor.

In this ESG podcast we delve into carbon development decisions that will have an impact on real estate and the planet.  Do we need to build any new buildings or are we headed to a future where retrofit and refurb is the only option?

Jess Harrold is joined by deputy editor Tim Burke and senior writer Piers Wehner to round up the week in real estate.

Burke discusses his EG Interview with Tim Roberts, chief executive of Henry Boot, about the developer’s first HQ move in almost a century – and addresses the state of the London office market, with insights of optimism from British Land’s chief executive, Simon Carter.

Wehner outlines Landsec's £1bn disposal strategy and how it plans to boost its development pipeline, and turns his attention to the government reshuffle, the return of Lee Rowley, and his inventive way of charting the lengths of tenure of housing ministers.

Burke offers an update on WeWork, and how rivals are eyeing its sites that might become available, plus his thoughts on what might come next.

Along the way, the discussion takes in Snoop Dogg, John Cleese, the Two Ronnies and music for funerals - but with the latter in mind, what track will Burke add to the EGLSM Certified Bangers playlist? https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0pBand693O5IhhaScVM6uZ

In this latest podcast, EG's Sarah Jackman speaks to Nick Martyn, partner and lead for the leasehold enfranchisement team at RWK Goodman, about leasehold reform and whether developers are changing the way they view the asset values of new build residential freehold blocks.

They cover a range of legislation, both proposed and enacted, including the Leasehold and Freehold Bill announced in the King's Speech, the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 and the Building Safety Act 2022.

MAPP's head of people and talent, Sean Greathead, joins EG's Sarah Jackman to discuss the range of policies that the firm has implemented to help create and support DEI within the business.

In a wide-ranging discussion that covers both recruitment and staff retention, they discuss gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting, the positive role of employee forums in capturing staff sentiment and ideas, and the significance having role models within the business. 

As Greathead says: "There's a joy, an excitement and a value with difference."

This latest edition of In on the Act features Falcon Chambers barrister, Mark Galtrey, discussing the recent Law Commission recommendations to reform the Arbitration Act 1996, which were published in early September, alongside a draft Bill.

Following the announcement in last week's King's speech that an arbitration Bill will be included in this Parliamentary session, Galtrey delves into the detail of what the Law Commission has proposed and what practitioners can expect to see should its recommendations be adopted. 

He provides examples of how arbitrations apply in the property context (rent reviews and partnership arrangements being common scenarios), as well as reflecting on whether there were missed opportunities to recommend reform to other parts of the existing Act.