Estates Gazette Property Podcasts

In this latest episode of EG's TechTalk Radio EG editor Samantha McClary is mashing up tech with sustainability in a bid to secure a successful journey to net zero carbon.

Net zero and the pathway to it is a topic high on everyone’s agenda today. Increasing numbers of real estate businesses are outlining their commitments to achieving net zero, but reaching those commitments will require hard and intelligent work.

Technology will play a key role in helping businesses adapt to challenges.

Here we talk to Faisal Butt, chief executive and founder of Pi Labs, Rob Charlton, chief executive of TwinView and Sue Foxley, research director at Bidwells to understand how technology can support the ESG agenda and the steps real estate needs to take to fully adopt the technology that will enable it to reach its net zero carbon ambitions.

Swathes of sunseekers famously swarmed the shores of Dorset during lockdown but the key to the resilience of the commercial property market in Thomas Hardy county lay further inland where advanced manufacturing companies are taking space for surprisingly high-tec projects, reveals Sibbett Gregory agency director Alastair Knott.

Sibbett Gregory currently tops the Radius On Demand Rankings for Dorset, with 62,952 sq ft of space transacted across 24 deals, which puts it comfortably ahead of the rest of the county’s Radius market. Key to this success has been industrial lettings and these are being boosted through partnerships with the Ministry Of Defence which is looking for private enterprise to drive technological innovation.

But the region’s beaches, boats and rolling hills are also able to offer a quality of lifestyle which is a major pull to occupiers and has helped lead to the Bournemouth conurbation earning the nickname Silicon South thanks to its concentration of digital and creative companies, particularly in the advertising and marketing sectors.

All of which leaves Dorset well positioned for post-pandemic growth although connectivity, particularly the road links with the rest of the South West, is an area of concern.

Alex Daniel and Graham Shone join Jess Harrold to round up the week, with a focus on the latest state of the ongoing discussion on flexible working and evolving office needs.

In addition to their expert insights on the future of the workplace, Daniel picks out his news highlights - and faces the quiz of the week.

But what are Shone and Daniel's predictions for Wales and England in the European Championships?

Shams Rahman, partner in property litigation at law firm Edwin Coe, joins EG's senior deputy legal editor Jess Harrold to discuss the impact of the nine-month extension of the moratorium on commercial rent arrears recovery measures including forfeiture.

Rahman addresses the detail of the extended moratorium and its impact on landlords, but explains why they do still have options on the table - particularly if they are prepared to think outside the box.

He outlines the process of bringing a debt claim in court, and considers the potential availability of forfeiture for breaches of covenant other than non-payment of rent.

Against that background, he offers advice on how landlords can approach lease negotiations with tenants - and looks ahead to the government's proposed arbitration process for resolving Covid-related disputes.

In this episode of the EG Property Podcast, EG editor Samantha McClary is taking a look at the world of life sciences and just what the growth of the sector means for real estate.

Over the course of this 45-minute listen guests Colleen O'Connor from BioMed Realty, Steve Lang from Savills, Anna Strongman from Oxford University Development and Rob West from Clearbell Capital, discuss everything from whether we know enough about the life sciences market from a property perspective, what the future holds for its growth, whether the sector will spread beyond the Golden Triangle and London and whether it really can be a catalyst for the UK's levelling up agenda.

They also ponder on whether innovations in the sciences sector are leading to change in the real estate industry.

In the third and final part in our Law & Borders series on the Scottish real estate market with partners from Morton Fraser, Alan Stewart and Jonathan Seddon join Jess Harrold to look at the future prospects for investment in Scotland.

Stewart and Seddon discuss the still-emerging impacts of Covid-19 and Brexit on investor confidence - and why the prospect of a second independence referendum is actually quite far down the list of factors that are shaping the market.

In this episode of the EG Property Podcast, EG editor Samantha McClary is exploring how the pathway to success never follows a straight line. That could never be more true that in real estate’s journey along the net zero carbon pathway.

In this 40 minute listen, she’s in discussion with John Davies, head of sustainability at Derwent London, Jonathan Hale, sustainability director at BNP Paribas Real Estate, Andrew Leiper, net zero carbon leader and principal engineer at Max Fordham and Andries van der Walt, real estate director at Verco to find out what real estate will need to do to be able to stay on the path to net zero, despite some ever moving goalposts.

News editor Pui-Guan Man joins Jess Harrold to discuss the government's decision to extend the ban on commercial rent arrears recovery a further nine months, until March 2022.

Together, they survey the industry reaction and the proposals for an arbitration system to deal with rent disputes arising out of the pandemic.

In addition, Pui rounds up more of the latest news, and once again faces the quiz of the week.

Just over a decade ago, Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society had more than 1,000 branches. Today, it has 650. In this Investing Through Auctions podcast, EG looks at how Nationwide has been scaling back its branch network to manage costs and keep pace as customers increasingly use mobile and online banking.

As part of its Investing Through Auctions series, EG hosts a podcast discussion about how the UK market deals with distress and highlights how uneven the impact of the pandemic has been.