London’s 10 Biggest Real Estate Stories Of 2017

.

What a year it's been for London real estate. Here are the 10 most-read stories Bisnow London covered in 2017 — and none of them are to do with the B word.

10. Five Years On, London's Olympic Real Estate Legacy Is A Clear Winner

Courtsey of Delancey
East Village Is Radically Shaking Up The London Rental Market.

These days no one wants to host the Olympics, but for London, and its real estate in particular, the 2012 games have been a huge success.

9. Ambassador To U.S. Links Qatari Real Estate Investment To Terrorism, Country's Spending Likely To Pause

When the diplomatic blockade of Qatar by its Gulf neighbours was put in place in May, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the U.S. called out cities like London and New York for courting real estate investment where the profits are potentially being used to fund terrorism.

8. Blackstone’s Next Big Bet: Small Industrial Units

Westminster Industrial Estate
U+I

Blackstone’s next big platform is European last-mile logistics, moving from big sheds to little ones.

7. Lendlease Is The First Real Estate Company To Publish How Much Less It Pays Women Than Men

The U.K. government is making all big companies report the gap between how much they pay men and women. Lendlease was the first real estate company to do so.

6. Goldman Raised $1B For A Real Estate Fund, Putting 2007 Failure Behind It

Goldman Sachs office

Goldman Sachs lost a lot of money for itself and its clients on real estate funds during the last boom. Its latest fund marks its comeback in the sector.

5. 6 Little Luxuries Baby Boomers Could Give Up And Buy Every Millennial A House

Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International
An Ultimate Family Suite in Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas ship

Strutt & Parker put out a piece of research about how millennials could buy a house in London if they were willing to forego having a life for five years and had access to £30K from their parents. We published a response.

4. Technology Will Soon Do 90% Of What A Broker Does, But The Industry Is Pretending It Won’t Happen

Behrokh Khoshnevis/USC

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors outlined how a huge swathe of jobs undertaken by property agents will be automated in the next 10 years, but the sector is doing little to face up to the issue.

3. Why Your Brain Makes You Get Real Estate Investing Wrong

nerve cell, neuron, brain, brain cells
Illustration of a nerve cell or a neuron in the brain

Fidelity’s London real estate research team put out a fascinating report into how the principles of behavioural psychology can be applied to real estate investing and play a big part in creating booms and busts. How many of these mistakes do you make?

2. How To Prepare For The Nuclear Bomb That Will Hit Flexible Office

Courtesy of IWG
The IWG office in One Kingdom Street, London.

IWG Chief Executive Mark Dixon, the man who essentially invented the flexible office company, analysed how ready the sector is for the recession that will inevitably hit.

1. Workers Are Already Pushing Back Against The Office Of The Future

The year has been dominated by conversations about new ways of working and quantifying how people use offices. But Apple’s workers did not completely embrace their new HQ and bankers at Barclays balked at sensors under their desks measuring how often they were used.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's London Newsletters
Related Stories

DOJ Charges LA Nonprofit Workers With Misusing $8.7M Meant For Housing Aid

First Rate Hike Since 2023 Lands Atop 5% Treasury Yield, Ratcheting Up Capital Pressure

Sovereign Fund Backs £500M Subterranean West End Development

Lone Star Seeks 58% Uplift In Under 3 Years With £175M UK Mall Sale

Discussing Strategic Capital Stack Structuring At Bisnow's Sept. 30 National Finance Event

GTIS Partners Rebrands As Brightshore Capital, Launches $250M Debt Platform

'Beyond A Routine Wobble': 10-Year Treasury Clears 5% Ahead Of Key Fed Meeting

Airbnb Launches $250M Fund To Invest In Affordable Housing

Judge Dismisses Suit Alleging Alexandria Misled Investors Over Portfolio Strength

Battersea Power Station Reveals Plans To Double Development Again

Canadian CRE Investors Shrug Off Trade War, Spend $9B On U.S. Assets

HPP, Blackstone Nab Extension On $1.1B Loan Tied To 2.2M SF Hollywood Portfolio