For those of you taking a rest from the merry-go-round of Christmas drinks parties and nativity plays, Friday night provided a chance to watch Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn go head-to-head for the final time during the election campaign. Within seconds the Prime Minister had reeled off his now familiar mantra about getting "Brexit done" - after all, his deal is "oven ready". Mr Corbyn, on the other hand, brandished leaked documents that provide "proof" (or otherwise) that the NHS is about to be sold from under our noses. That is unless you believe the latest rumour that his classified documents are actually linked to a Russian interference campaign! Indeed the positions of the leading parties are so well-rehearsed and entrenched - at the heart of the election is a battle between capitalism and socialism - that most of the mud-slinging has revolved around what the leaders are not saying as opposed to any particular policy promises. The TV channels, for example, have been accused of hysterical election bias after Andrew Neil made a public appeal for Boris Johnson to take part in a sit-down ("oven ready") interview. And Channel 4 prompted controversy after producers decided to replace the absent PM with an ice block during a climate change debate. Even Donald Trump had "relatively little" to say when he jetted in for the NATO Conference. His words "I'll stay out of the election" were followed a few moments later by what sounded like a ringing endorsement of Boris Johnson; "I think Boris is very capable and I'll think he'll do a good job". The good news is that the campaigning, rumour-mongering and rafts of mis-leading election stories are all coming to an end. The Weekly suspects they'll be a few bleary eyes on Friday morning as we anxiously track the results as they come in.
The Weekly attended an informative and thought-provoking seminar on Thursday morning entitled Asset Extinction versus Asset Adaptation. The seminar, presented by Building Consultancy TFT, was set against the backdrop of the climate change and biodiversity emergency where higher temperatures, flash floods and heat spikes are going to become increasingly prevalent. Jeremy Clarkson may think climate activist Greta Thunberg is "mad and dangerous" after he publicly told her this week to "shut up" and "go back to school" (at the same time as he promoted his new TV show don't forget!), but there is no disputing that changes to our climate are already having an impact on our built environment. Building Surveyors are already using state of the art climate projections to design new buildings, but it is not all about designing new-build developments that are resilient to the changing weather patterns. Investors also need to adapt existing building stock. After all, 80% of the buildings that will be standing in 2050 have already been built. And we need to move away from a compliance culture to one that actually delivers improved building performance that can ultimately make a positive impact towards achieving net zero carbon buildings. The good news is that there are positive measures that can make a difference. The introduction of "green infrastructure" - networks of natural and semi-natural habitats - as well as "blue infrastructure" have multiple benefits which include carbon storage, urban cooling and an improvement in physical and mental well-being. And the concept of a circular economy - with up-cycling and re-use built into project design - is also gaining traction. The refurbishment of Derwent London's HQ is a prime example of what can be done if we really put our minds to it.
Putting climate change and building resilience aside, the property industry was left facing another challenge this week when M&G suspended dealing in its £2.5 billion UK Property Fund after unusually high outflows. According to Morningstar data, investors have pulled an unprecedented £992 million from the fund over the last 12 months. M&G blamed Brexit-related uncertainty and ongoing structural shifts in the retail sector for the spike in redemptions, but M&G's gating will only serve to reignite debate over the suitability of hard-to-trade assets like property in open-ended funds with daily trading. In the aftermath of the suspension of the Woodford Equity Income Fund, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said that funds holding illiquid assets, but based on daily liquidity were "built on a lie". Strong words, but pressure on the open-ended property funds is only likely to mount if we see a repeat of what happened in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum in June 2016 which sparked a wave of fund suspensions. What with Christmas shopping, the small matter of a General Election, and now some jitters in the market, it looks like we're set for a busy week!