January
4 Financial Times All-share index at 886.50, Property share index at 975.44 (year’s low) and Government Securities index at 88.47; sterling at $1.876 and gold at $480 an ounce at close of first day’s business in London.
7 Postel buy Washington New Town centre for £20m.
Bids invited for London’s County Hall.
11 RICS announces proposals for administrative reorganisation.
12 Lord Young announces new policies for industrial aid — regional development grants to end.
18 Legal & General announce £170m property investment for 1988. Greycoat and Sir Robert McAlpine announce £133m offices plan for Victoria Station.
Bracknell give permission for £60m joint M&S/Tesco retail centre.
20 Countryside Properties submit plans for £250m Braintree, Essex, housing scheme.
Cameron Hall withdraw from Sandwell Mall.
22 Alliance & Leicester announce £200m fund to finance commercial property.
28 Bryant, Taylor Woodrow and Wimpey announce £350m 399-acre housing scheme at Crawley. Plans for 511ft office tower on Winchester House site, London Wall, rejected by City Court of Common Council.
Peachey launch £58.5m bid for EPIC.
29 LDDC chief executive Major-General Jeremy Rougier resigns after three weeks.
February
1 Banks base rate raised from 8.5% to 9%.
3 Westminster grants planning consent for hotel/offices for St George’s Hospital, Hyde Park Corner.
Bankers Trust buy phase 5 of Broadgate for £100m plus.
Audit Commission report Local Authority Property: A Management Overview published.
5 Mountleigh make £61.6m agreed bid for Phoenix Properties.
8 High Court rejects objection to Royal Opera House planning decision for £100m scheme in Covent Garden.
FT All-share and Ordinary indices at year’s lows of 870.19 and 1349.0 respectively.
9 Inner cities allocated £259m for 1988-89 under Government’s urban programme.
10 DTI launch inquiry into trading of Peachey shares by John Ritblat.
12 Regalian’s £100m housing scheme for Green Giant site approved by Environment Secretary.
15 EPIC revalue property assets as part of defence of Peachey bid.
16 £800m West Midlands rapid transit system plans announced.
17 Association of Mortgage Lenders launched.
Churchill Hotel, W1, sold by Kuwaiti consortium to Hong Kong-based Park Lane Hotels for £110m.
18 City Corporation approve BR/Rosehaugh Stanhope 2.25m sq ft scheme at Holborn Viaduct.
Guidelines for the Handling of Planning Applications published by National Development Control Forum.
20 First branch of Woolwich estate agency network opens in Dartford.
22 Public consultation on London’s King’s Cross redevelopment begins.
RICS liberalisation of rules of conduct agreed by Privy Council with immediate effect.
23 First joint Marks & Spencer/Tesco shopping centre, Brookfield Centre, Cheshunt, opens.
24 Bovis win £150m contract for Pru’s 1m-sq ft office scheme at Mincing Lane/Dunster Court, EC3.
29 Mountleigh sell Beaufort House, EC3, to Norwich Union for £200m — UK’s largest single property transaction to date.
March
1 General Accident launches “GA Property Services” title for estate agencies.
Building contract for Canary Wharf 1.8m-sq ft office tower awarded to Sir Robert McAlpine and Ellis Don of Ontario.
2 Blue Circle/Rosehaugh/Pearson announce plans for 600-acre new town Chafford Hundred at West Thurrock, Essex.
3 Beazer bid $1.3bn for US aggregates group Koppers.
British Urban Development formed by 11 civil engineering and property companies to revive inner cities.
7 Action for Cities published by Government.
Mountleigh sell portfolio of properties to Control Securities for £88m.
8 Green Paper on restrictive practices in the professions published by DTI.
Marks & Spencer sign $770m US deal with Campeau to buy Brooks Brothers.
9 Nicholas Ridley bans council sales and leasebacks.
Business rates law amended following Addis v Clement.
11 Mountleigh and P&O both pledge £200m each into Leeds City Development Co.
14 Trusthouse Forte bid £173.6m for Kennedy Brookes.
15 Budget: BES extended to companies letting residential property; mortgage interest relief applied to property not borrowers; tax relief on home improvement grants abolished; forestry deduction ended; capital gains tax.
LDDC grant planning permission for 1.29m-sq ft phase two of London Bridge City.
16 British Land buy 118 properties from Investors in Industry for £97m.
Singer & Friedlander sell Centrovincial Estates to Ford Sellar Morris Properties for £45m.
17 Banks base rate cut from 9% to 8.5%.
Nicholas Ridley calls in phase two of London Bridge City.
21 Beazer bid for US aggregates group Koppers increased to &1.6bn (£879m).
Peachey bid for EPIC raised to £63.4m.
23 Abbey National announce plans to go public.
24 Birmingham Heartlands formed to redevelop Aston and Nechells areas.
Stephan Wingate’s Giltvote bid £64.6m for EPIC, topping Peachey’s bid.
Local Government Act Bill receives Royal Assent.
28 Planning permission to use London’s County Hall as commercial offices quashed by High Court.
29 O&Y unveil detailed phase one plans for phase one of Docklands’ Canary Wharf.
Plans for 2,750 homes on 355-acre site near M4 at Reading announced by housebuilders’ consortium.
30 Michael Honey, chief executive of Richmond, appointed chief executive of LDDC.
DOE announces details of Valuation and Community Charge Tribunals.
31 Campeau win $6.64bn bid for Federated Department Stores.
April
5 London’s County Hall Development Group unveil their plans.
6 Bovis win £200m Canary Wharf infrastructure contract.
7 Barclays announce £921m rights issue.
8 Banks base rate cut from 8.5% to 8%.
11 Heron announce £100m petrol station expansion plan.
BRPB sell Battersea Wharf site to Parc Securities for £50m.
12 Debenham Tewson & Chinnocks announce acquisition of Chesshire Gibson for £5.56m.
13 GRE Properties buy Covent Garden market area.
14 £50m development plans announced for James Bridge steelworks, Darlaston.
18 Bovis win £90m contract for 900,000-sq ft office block at Canary Wharf.
ESN/Richard Ellis Trocadero damages action starts in High Court.
Government Securities index at year’s high of 91.43; sterling at year’s high of $1.9050.
19 £200m leisure scheme at Broad Street, Birmingham, approved by city council.
LDDC gives planning permission for £300m Trinity Tower office scheme at St Katharine Docks. Hammerson announce pre-tax profits up 10% at £54.25m.
21 £60m scheme for Oxford Science Park unveiled by Carroll Group. LDDC buys 360 acres in London’s Royal Docks from PLA.
22 Slough Estates announce £150m Eurobonds rights issue.
25 Newcastle and Birmingham selected for CBI’s Task Force inner-city regeneration plans.
TSB link with French savings banks for £47m property investment fund.
28 LET’s £250m plans for Birmingham’s Bull Ring get OPP.
29 The PSA — A case for demolition published by Centre for Policy Studies.
Kajima and Allied Properties announce $HK1.6bn hotel and commercial scheme at Wanchai.
May
4 City grant scheme for inner cities in operation.
5 Capital & Counties buy partner Pearson’s share in M25 Thurrock Lakeside shopping centre for £64.4m.
Jardine lift stake in Hongkong Land to 33% with $HK1.83bn share acquisition.
9 Rosehaugh Stanhope win £500m Royal Docks deal.
10 Bovis buy remaining 50% of Lehrer McGovern Bovis, construction managers of Canary Wharf and Euro-Disney.
Nicholas Ridley announces continued defence of green belt but hints at more homes for South East. Farm Land and Rural Development Bill receives Royal Assent.
11 Olympia & York take £137m one-third stake in Stanhope.
12 Erostin submit plans for Waterfenton new town near Cambridge.
16 BAA announce £220m cash offer for Lynton Property & Reversionary.
17 No 1 Poultry, EC3, inquiry opens. Banks base rate cut from 8% to 7.5%.
Plans for 800-acre Barking Reach site announced by Barking & Dagenham, CEGB and Mountleigh. £160m Trafford Park project launched.
18 Land Securities announce pre-tax profits up 11% to £133.6m and nav per share up 37%.
21 Devon and Cornwall Development Co announced.
24 Trocadero law suit settled out of court with Richard Ellis making an undisclosed payment to ESN.
£1.5bn Cardiff Bay redevelopment plans unveiled.
25 Government plans for commercialisation of PSA from 1993 announced.
26 Nicholas Ridley rejects two plans for 1,100 acres of mixed development on Crayford Marshes, Kent. Black Horse Agencies acquire 500th firm.
27 Mountleigh acquire (through Stockley) remaining 50% of Paternoster Square complex from British Land.
June
1 Public inquiry opens into Foxley Wood, Hants, 700-acre housing scheme, backed by DTI.
Beazer win Koppers for $1.72bn. MEPC announce pre-tax profits up 50% at £48.7m.
Giltvote win battle with Peachey for control of EPIC.
London & Clydeside announce £200m Dunfermline scheme.
2 Banks base rate raised from 7.5% to 8%.
Rosehaugh Stanhope’s London Regeneration Consortium chosen for £6bn King’s Cross project.
6 Banks base rate raised from 8% to 8.5%.
£203m EC aid to Birmingham announced.
7 British Land announce pre-tax profits up 31% at £67.7m.
Teesside £110m.
9 LET/Arlington announce £100m Norwich scheme.
13 £150m final phase of Merry Hill, Dudley, scheme announced.
14 Government announce £500m revitalisation programme for South Wales.
16 Nicholas Ridley scales down South East homes needs.
21 European Court ruling on VAT on construction.
Joint Chinese/Mountleigh scheme for Docklands announced.
22 Banks base rate raised from 8.5% to 9%.
Tarmac get OPP for £250m BREL redevelopment at Swindon.
28 Control of Advertisements Regulations restricting size of agents’ boards in force.
Banks base rate raised from 9% to 9.5%.
29 County Hall sold to Consortium Development Group.
30 Urban development corporations created for Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.
July
4 Banks base rate raised from 9.5% to 10%.
5 Government’s Housing in Rural Areas discussion paper published.
11 Government announces Housing Action Trusts for council estates. Wereldhave acquire 10.4% of Peachey and make bid approach.
13 Time for Change report on the future of the legal profession published by Bar Council.
Peachey announce sale of 34.2% stake in EPIC to Giltvote.
15 Sterling at year’s low of $1.6635.
17 Government announces plans for housebuying code of practice.
18 Banks base rate raised from 10% to 10.5%.
Mountleigh announce plans for £70m 500,000-sq ft Leeds office block.
Wereldhave launch hostile bid of £265m for Peachey.
19 LDDC approve £600m Royal Docks housing/commercial scheme.
Review of Operations of Land Registry published.
21 Savills go public.
25 Government ministerial reshuffle.
26 Mountleigh sell Stockley Park for £160m to Stanhope/Kajima/Pru/Chelsfield.
28 East London River Crossing and second Severn Bridge get Government go-ahead.
Seven rivals chosen to compete for 242-acre Blackwall Peninsular scheme at Greenwich
29 Local Government Finance Bill receives Royal Assent.
DTI Consultative Paper on share interest disclosure published.
August
1 Midland link road between M1 and A1 cleared by High Court.
2 United Mortgage Corporation launched by Leamington Spa Building Society.
4 Mecca launch £588m hostile bid for Pleasurama.
8 FT All-share and Ordinary indices at year’s highs of 978.58 and 1514.7 respectively.
Banks base rate raised from 10.5% to 11%.
Grand Met put Inter-Continental Hotels up for sale at £1.5bn.
9 Norwich Union announce £300m property investment plans for 1988.
10 Trafford Park announce £68m regeneration plans.
11 Trafalgar House selected for £350m Paddington Basin, W2, redevelopment.
Brent Walker sign deal to manage Wonderworld, Corby.
British Land sell 24.6% stake in Stylo Shoes and 17 freehold properties to Control Securities.
23 Trade Unions in the Inner Cities published by TUC.
Taylor Woodrow announce plans to issue PINCs for St Katharine Docks.
25 Banks base rate raised from 11% to 12%.
26 Merlin/Shearwater/Laing get go-ahead for £250m Birmingham Convention Centre retail scheme.
31 Wereldhave win control of Peachey.
Hong Kong Hotels announce plans to operate Peninsula Hotel; Hyde Park Corner.
One-day post strike — escalates into two weeks.
September
1 Taylor Woodrow buy Warrington property portfolio for £77.1m.
2 Brent Walker form Mainray to buy Elstree Studios for £32.5m.
Government Securities index at year’s low of 86.28.
6 Peachey concede defeat in £282m bid battle with Wereldhave.
7 Peter Palumbo appointed chairman of the Arts Council wef 1/4/89
12 P&O step in to save £310m Liverpool north docks scheme.
13 Post Office return to work begins. Shearwater win contract for 25-acre Tyneside quayside redevelopment.
£300m face-lift for Plymouth waterfront announced.
20 DOE announces go-ahead for 1,500-acre Haydon Group new town at Swindon.
22 Government rejects plans for Bristol’s Cribbs Causeway shopping scheme.
28 £270m Battersea Wharf scheme announced by Parc Securities.
£500m Royal Victoria Dock scheme checked by price break-down between LDDC and developer consortium.
30 Grand Met sell off Inter-Continental chain to Japanese for £1.35bn.
October
4 Grand Metropolitan launch $5.23bn offer for Pillsbury.
5 Manufacturers Hanover sell Adelphi Building, WC2, for £190m.
10 Arlington and P&O Developments announce 200-acre business park on M5 near Gloucester.
12 Docklands Public Transport Strategic Plan, published by LDDC and LRT.
13 Mountleigh’s Tony Clegg hands over as chief executive to John Duggan.
14 Hammerson announce pre-tax profits down £1.66m at £25.36m.
18 Mountleigh announce sale of Paternoster Square and four other properties to Venezuelan group ODC for £317.5m.
Royal Insurance buys remaining 57.8% of William H Brown.
19 Private-sector EZ plan announced by BUD.
£100m redevelopment scheme for London’s Royal Opera House backed by Court of Appeal.
20 Lloyds Bank and Abbey Life Group announce merger.
BUD chosen for 240-acre Greenwich Peninsular development.
21 Government publishes new arrangements for rate support grant. Cathay City Investment launch $HK6.4bn bid for Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels.
Strategic plan for Leeds announced.
24 Review of legal profession announced by Lord Chancellor.
26 Brent Walker buy balance of Elstree Development Corporation.
27 Redesign of Birmingham’s Centre presented to planning committee.
28 New restrictions on estate agents’ boards in force for residential property.
Prince Charles’s TV programme criticises modern architects.
31 David Hardy succeeds Sir Christopher Benson as LDDC chairman
November
1 Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn statement.
3 Master plan for London’s King’s Cross redevelopment made public.
9 Abbey National launch commercial estate agency chain.
12 Bar Council approves plans for direct access to barristers by other professions.
14 Law Commission consultation papers Caveat Emptor in Sales of Land and Honesty or Suspicion in Convenyancing published.
Tony Clegg replaces John Duggan as chief executive of Mountleigh
15 Housing Bill receives Royal Assent. Government proposes voluntary code of practice for estate agents. Teacher Marks abandon stock market flotation owing to lack of institutional interest.
16 Olympia & York/Regalian £600m Docklands homes/hotel scheme announced.
Land Securities announce pre-tax profits up from £64.5m to £71.4m.
18 Paternoster Square detailed plans unveiled.
21 Consortium Developments seek OPP for 350-acre country town, Westmere, near Ely.
23 Rodamco launch £1.3bn bid for Hammerson.
FT Property share index at year’s high of 1318.34.
25 Banks base rate raised from 12% to 13%.
Peel Holdings make £269m cash bid for London Shop.
29 Speyhawk and Alton Group selected for 4m-sq ft Sandwell 2000 shopping complex.
December
1 MEPC announce pre-tax profits up 31% to £104.8m
5 New General Development Order in operation.
6 Heritage Land announce plans for 850-ft tower at Edgware Road Underground Station — Europe’s tallest tower.
Trafalgar House announce pre-tax profits up 40% at £229.1m.
7 British Land announce pre-tax profits up 36% at £32m.
9 RICS/ISVA unification scheme published.
14 Argos announce hunt for 400 new store units.
15 Law Commission announce plans to speed up conveyancing.
16 OFT proposes tougher controls over estate agents.
21 £250m Deeside retail and leisure scheme announced.
23 EC rules for takeover bids proposed.
Canadian Triple Five sign agreement with Leeds CC for £3bn mixed scheme.
29 Chicago’s Sears Tower, world’s tallest building, put on the market.
30 FT All-share index at 926.59, Property share index at 1206.26, and Government Securities index at 87.03; sterling at $1.809 and gold at $410.25 an ounce at close of business in London.
