Gov; “Housing Sec pledges to 'go further than ever before' to hit 1.5 million homes. The date by which this pledge will be met has gone missing.”

FT (£) New national rules announced on Tuesday will require more larger projects to be approved in urban areas to “drive densification” Yeah! Pack ‘em in. The poor don’t deserve their own private space. The rich don’t need it. Gardens? Luxury! https://t.co/XgKLgZFCMQ via @ft

Bloomberg (£) London’s luxury property market is set for its worst year since 2020, after a series of tax measures damped sentiment. It was the second year since 2011 in which no sales above £50 million were recorded, according to data from LonRes

Mail: Baroness Smith said: 'There's no decant-free option. My preference personally is for everyone to move out. But that will be for Parliament as a whole to decide.” Parliament could not decide the time of day on a matter festering unresolved since 2012.

BD (£) The building has seven floors and the reworked interiors will be able to accommodate around 1,000 people across 152,000sq ft with developer Fore Partnership. Cushman & Wakefield is leasing agent.

Bisnow: “Shopping centres are expected to provide an average annual return of 8.7% between now and 2029, the Investment Property Forum’s quarterly consensus forecast said.” What goes down….

Bloomberg (£) The bad news: London's home prices have slipped back 15% since 2015 when adjusting for inflation, compared with a 5% gain across the UK . The good news: London apartment prices are now at their most affordable level in 12 years.

Telegraph (£) “A RICS spokesman said: “The surveyor involved had retired and was no longer a member of RICS, and so did not fall under our regulatory jurisdiction. Therefore, RICS could not take any further action.”

WSJ (£) “A Chinese billionaire was seeking parental rights to at least four unborn children, additional research showed that he had already fathered at least eight more—all through surrogates.” A brave and sickening new world.

Times (£) “Pension firms, insurance companies and international investors are warning the government that it risks torpedoing billions of pounds of investment in Britain unless ministers break Labour’s manifesto promise to reform leaseholds.” Really? Why?

Costar (£) “A planning application and listed building consent have been submitted for the redevelopment of No. 1 Poultry, the Postmodernist City offices landmark.” This will cause flutterings in the architectural hen house.

Bisnow: CoStar Group, the $29B real estate data company with platforms used by thousands of brokers nationwide, is seeking to go before the U.S. Supreme Court to prove it's not an illegal monopoly.

Bloomberg (£) Strategic Value Partners is to buy a Mayfair building from an Italian family office at a discount of about 33% . SVP is to acquire 7 Old Park Lane for less than £100m. The office was first put on the market for about £150 million in 2023.

Tel (£) Steve Evans, from the National House Building Council, told peers that bathroom renovations were “tying up our most skilled and best registered building inspectors”. Insert string of disbelieving curses here….

RIBA news: The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects will no longer be able to call himself an architect. Chris Williamson is refusing to register with the Architects Registration Board as part of a campaign to have a new regulatory body. https://t.co/nGTettgQRv

5 Min. Read: You finished a $50K roof — now the carrier wants more proof. Don’t let missing photos cost you thousands. Read this guide for a repeatable system: photo checklists, team roles, who to call when claims go sideways, and how to protect payment from day one ...

Last night £1.05m was raised by the property sector at the 48th Story of Christmas, with a carol service at St George’s church, Hanover Sq. and auction at the Park Lane hotel. Readers included Dominic Cumberpatch, Dawn French, Dominic West & Lucy Worsley. https://t.co/8t05VXmW0y

Estates Gazette (£) My column. Will Righmove’s falling shares prove a bargain and rise on takeover talks? Or will the value of all listing platforms sink, as searching via AI starts to disintermediate those who don’t own the data? https://t.co/7Y66xSJKHo

New River REIT signs ‘overarching’ joint venture agreement with Mid-Sussex District Council to redevelop Martlets shopping centre in Burgess Hill

Estates Gazette (£) “The judgment will cost the Berkeley almost £7m, as it calculated its liability at £1.2m, based on the £30m book value of the tower, while HMRC calculated the duty based on the building’s £50m market value.”

BD (£) Designed for Hong Kong-based Super Expert Investments Limited, the 1 St James’s Square scheme will overhaul the site’s existing Sheppard Robson-designed building while retaining 50% of its structure.