Monthly Archives: May 2010

May 22 2010

Green values – not much further forward?

At the end of March I went to a breakfast meeting at Nottingham Trent University – the subject matter was whether green buildings had a higher value than buildings that are not green. I blogged about it here.

The sort of green I do understand as a valuer

I also blogged a couple of weeks ago about the role of a valuer, simply reporting on the market. As I have said before we don’t make the market – we do have to interpret it.

This week I was at Gleeds in Nottingham – another breakfast seminar examining the impact of green leases on value but also a take on the legal aspects. Valuers came in for a bit of a beating! The suggestion was that valuers need to understand green issues more to be able to educate occupiers. I couldn’t let this go as this is slightly unfair. I suggest again that as a valuer we are only interpreting the market – we don’t make it!

The real education needs to be at the occupier level. There are some green evangelists out there – and we have some as tenants. But the vast majority of occupiers in my view place ‘green issues’ or ‘sustainability’ fairly low on their shopping list. My experience is that it is still location and price first – by some distance!

But some fair points were made. We still don’t really have a clear understanding on what a green building is. There are different measurement tools including BREEAM and EPC certificates. But ‘green’ means different things to different people. There is too much EcoBling and much of the technology is still quite immature.

We need much better and clearer information – in the meantime there is no real evidence that a green building is worth more than a non-green building! In fact there is some hearsay evidence that the opposite might be true – at the moment…

May 21 2010

The City’s new office is rather good!

I went to a meeting this week with Nottingham City Council – at their new £22.5 m headquarters – Loxley House.

Loxley House Nottingham World HQ

Loxley House forms part of a strategic vision by the City to relocate all of their services under one roof, but also to form the heart of Southside – a new Business District launched at MIPIM this year.

Only the Estates team have moved in (and they arranged the move so this was a great way of ironing the teething problems). they are sharing with the fit out contractors! The intention that everyone will be moved by September.

This is a big move for the City and I think it will be successful. The space they have in the new building is fantastic, it is light and airy and has an amazing central atrium. The ground floor is being fitted out with social space and a restaurant. Clearly the economies of scale will be self evident as the City moves from a number of buildings dotted around the City – each with security, receptions and other facilities issues.

It was interesting to note that there has been a big clear out of paper and files – with an encouragement to go paperless (mail is scanned and emailed to the recipient). They also have a tidy desk policy…

Although I was impressed with the building and the space it offered, my real impression was that this is a building Nottingham can be proud of. It is not The Council House – which I understand is being retained for ceremonious occasions and civic receptions. But Loxley House is a place the City can do business from. It gives a very professional impression.

I was impressed.

May 20 2010

Jamie Oliver brings Italy to Nottingham

GUEST BLOG – MATTHEW HANNAH

There was great news for Nottingham yesterday with the announcement that Jamie Oliver is to open a new restaurant in Nottingham – of his Italian variety!

Great chef poor fashion taste?

The ‘Naked Chef’ has come a long way in his short life – he is still only 35… But he has enjoyed huge success on TV and in his culinary books. He has even changed school meals.

With the announcement that he is to take over the Jass cafe and Gallery in Nottingham the building was previously the offices of Warren & Allen and has a stunning city garden to the rear of the property that I am sure Jamie’s team will maximise to the full.

We do have Sat Bains – the only Michelin Starred restaurant in Nottingham. I have eaten there and it is a real experience, but it is not for everyday (for one thing it is a bit on the expensive side!). We also have Harts – which has great food – and is much more affordable – not cheap – affordable. Then there is the World Service, which I like less than Harts, but is still great. I like Merchants too, in the Lace Market.

As one of England’s eight core Cities perhaps it is not surprising Jamie has chosen to open in Nottingham. It is another leading brand which will make a positive contribution to the City Centre. I am looking forward to seeing the completed design so over to Jamie and his team…

[Matt is my fellow Director at Innes England - who looks after all things retail]

UPDATE 1ST AUGUST 2010

It looks like Jass has now closed – so after a quick lick of paint we will be getting those Bolognese dishes served? I can’t wait…

May 19 2010

Another BID for Nottingham

There was news this week that another Business Improvement District (BID) is being proposed by Nottingham City retailers. This is being supported by the Greater Nottingham Partnership.

A BID Levy is payable by ratepayers, in addition to the Business Rates.

The Council collect this money on behalf of an independent company which is set up specifically for the purpose of running a programme of additional services over and above that provided by the Council. The BID levy is related to the business rate – usually between 0.5% and 2% and more typically 1% of rateable value.

The BID is put in place after a vote of businesses. There needs to be a majority.

A roadshow of some of the ideas is to go on show this week in various places around Nottingham to improve the City’s retail offer. We need to do this as we have slipped slightly in recent years in the retail rankings. We are currently 7th in the UK, having been at 6th. The lack of the Broadmarsh shopping centre redevelopment has probably done the City some harm.

If the BID gets sufficient support it will be put in place early next year.

Whilst I am no fan of additional taxes, this is local monies being put into a local scheme – which the contributors should see the direct benefit of and actually have a say in how the money is spent. For that reason, as they say in the Dragon’s Den, I’m in….

May 18 2010

A weekend at instant replay pace

I spent the weekend with friends in Old Hunstanton, Norfolk.

Wells Next-the-Sea

There is something about the pace of life there which is different from my town life I am used to. They have to drive slower as the roads are rubbish. Good for rally style driving in my road legal racing car, but not much fun for the passengers!

We stopped at Kings Lynn on the way and had a Ploughmans lunch- which became a feature of the weekend.

We were amused to spot a sign for the Kings Lynn cemetery – summer opening hours (March to September) were 10.00am to 4.30. Winter (October – February) were 10.00 to 4.30…

There are some great places in Norfolk, Wells Next-the-Sea and Burnham Market are essential haunts. And lunch at the Hoste Arms, in the latter is always good.

Some of the places you see really are like going back in time and it is not difficult to imagine what these places would have looked like 100 years ago – pretty much as now, except obviously in black and white or sepia.

Meals are delivered at a different pace, just above dead slow. The girls in the group apparently dropped a dress size whilst waiting…I had to have a snack!

I love the vernacular architecture – especially the stone and brick cottages. The villages have managed to retain their charm. It is good to see that the planning system in these areas has managed to keep the character. And it is equally nice to see some owners restoring the properties to their original glory. There is some great contemporary architecture too.

I can see why people have holiday homes – but return to the city. It really is two different worlds!

May 17 2010

Footballs coming home?

After the disastrous week in Nottingham and our failure to get promotion to the Premiership, we are still hopeful of hosting some of the World Cup matches for 2018.

The bid book travels first class to Zurich

David Beckam delivered the technical to bid to FIFA for the England bid last week. And this is important to Nottingham as the city has been chosen to be a host city and hold some matches – provided England wins!

There is stiff competition to the England bid from Russia and a consortium Portugal/Spain. Russia seem to have the support of Sepp Blatter the FIFA President.

The Bid Book represents England 2018’s formal proposal to FIFA and sets out the country’s vision for the FIFA World Cup. It is 1700 pages long and covers 20 technical criteria outlined by FIFA including stadia; transport; security; football and social development; and marketing.

The final decision will be announced in December 2010.

This would be a fantastic result for Nottingham, despite the fact that there are some difficulties with the logistics. But, in the light of the major political Coalition love-in last week at National level, I hope we can have a local love-in and find a (new) way forward. The City and County need to work together.

2018 is not far away and we will need some serious amount of co-operation to deliver the infrastructure alone – 8 years is not long when there is a quite a lot to build!

Fingers crossed. We might need it after Sunday’s newspapers!

ps I was disappointed about Nottingham Forest, but rather overlooked Notts County – who should be congratulated on their promotion….

May 16 2010

An Englishman’s castle or land is his own?

Not always!

A village green? Maybe

You might guess from my blog that I often act for land or building owners – so I tend to have a slight bias.

In recent years (actually since The Commons Act 2006) it has been possible to apply to a Local Authority for the registration of a Town or Village Green – thus making the land incapable of redevelopment. Anyone can apply for any piece of land (well almost!). I have actually been involved in tow parcels of land – privately owned and used by the owner, but the problem was that the public have been allowed access (or at least not prevented from having access).

In recent months the Local Authorities have been waiting the outcome of a case that has gone all the way to the House of Lords – it is R (on the application of Lewis) -v- Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. Colloquially known as The Redcar case, this is one where the Authority (the Council) refused to register a Golf Course as a Village Green. There was a wonderful expression in the case that members of the public, walking their dogs or friends, gave deference to the golfers. In other words they kept out of the way of those hard white balls travelling at 200mph! This all seemed quite sensible.

Bu the House of Lords disagreed and have allowed the appeal, thus making the land a Village Green.

As seems so often the case in this Country, we seem to get caught by ill thought through legislation. Even Lord Rogers in the case suggested that he viewed the outcome with little enthusiasm. It seems that the draughtsman of the legislation had not quite expected this outcome.

There has been a promise of a review of the legislation. It can’t come soon enough – to prevent this sort of guerrilla tactics by locals to stop development. I have no issue with the latter on planning grounds!

A small industry has grown up around these applications – and they can be a real spoiling tactic.

What starts to happen is that private landowners will prevent people gaining access to land to avoid the applications.

May 15 2010

Modern Masters influence in 2010

There’s a great TV programme on the BBC at the moment, looking at four modern masters – Matisse, Picasso, Dali and Warhol. Sunday nights show was about Matisse.

Matisse stained glass window at Vence

What was fascinating was his apparent influence on our modern world – over 50 years since his death in 1954. The programme explored some of the influences – which included Nottingham born fashionista Paul Smith. The Paul Smith element of the show was intriguing – I had not quite realised how much was taken from the artist. The stripes which are now so in my socks familiar come from Matisse…

But the influence could also be seen in the London 2010 logo. The logo has a number of colour washes, but the blocked effect could clearly be seen in some of Matisse’s work.

Matisse was known as The King of Colour. I have seen a number of his paintings – mostly in MOMA in New York. When you see the real thing – as opposed to a print, you do get a different perspective. Most of the programme on Sunday talked about colour, his use of it at the time went against convention – and he became disliked by the art establishment.

I thought the best piece of work though was not a painting, but the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence – on the French Riviera. This is a brilliantly executed building was his last major work – and is a fitting tribute. The stained glass windows in particular look stunning.

I guess that sometimes art and architecture can be meshed together to create a building that works in all senses. This is a great example – simply executed. And art doesn’t just have to hang on a wall – it can be a wall… (how profound?)

May 14 2010

A mini property boom ahead?

One of the features of the newly formed Coalition Government is likely to be a hike in Capital Gains Tax. There are suggestions that it may move to the marginal rate of tax- so in some cases it could be 50%.

Commercial property might flood the market?


There is currently a flat rate of 18%.

There is no indication when this tax rise might take place, but it brings matters into sharp focus -especially in the property industry!

By way of real examples, if you had a property worth £1.5m today and had purchased it for £300,000, your taxable gain would be £1.2m – your tax bill (ignoring your allowance) = £216,000.

If the rate went to 40%, your new tax bill would be £480,000! This is quite a significant lump of tax to swallow!

Or to put it another way, you would need to sell at £1.95m to stand still. I wasn’t aware that properties were forecast to rise by 30% anytime soon!

So I think we might expect some people who have owned property for a long time to be seriously thinking about disposal and realising the asset. I guess the Politicians think this is a palatable tax as it only really affects investors – and they can surely afford to lose this sort of money? After all they are sat on a gain! Of course those likely to be paying 50% tax will be much worse off.

This will be interesting times for those with property assets and I wonder if we might see a rush of transactions to try and beat the rise? Unless of course it is introduced as an emergency measure and takes effect ‘immediately’…that could be in seven weeks time.

Interesting times!

May 13 2010

Robin Hood is back in Nottingham…

I went last night to a gala screening of the new Robin Hood film in Nottingham. Robin is back where belongs i.e not at the side of a runway in Doncaster!

The film is brilliant. Since I showed the first preview as part of my presentation at MIPIM this year and having seen a number of the props from the set, I have been looking forward to the actual film. I wasn’t disappointed.

This is a much ‘darker’ film than anything that has gone before – with Russell Crowe playing Robin superbly. And Cate Blanchett is Marion Loxley. It is fast paced and full of surprises!

The story by Sir Ridley Scott moves away from some of the legend. Crowe wears no tights and shows little interest in redistribution of wealth and he scarcely bothers with the Sheriff of Nottingham. But it is Nottingham where the film centres – which is great for the City.

Clearly the door has been left open for a sequel, which I understand may have been talked about. Without spoiling the plot, the film ends really where the story of Robin Hood begins.

I can’t see why some of the critics have panned the film. I am not a film buff in any way, but there’s a great storyline, Crowe and Blanchett really are excellent. It has some humour coupled with plenty of fight scenes.

Nottingham is hoping to capitalise on the film, which I am told has a ‘life’ of around 6 months – as the DVD will be out in approximately 2 months time! We are then hoping that some of the peripheral media picks up the thread – Discovery Channel examinations of fact or fiction here we come. If there is a sequel it will have an even longer shelf life!

In the meantime – I can wholeheartedly recommend the film.