The Labour Party has won an overwhelming victory in the UK general election. With only a few seats to be declared, Labour had won 412 (+211) with the Tories at 121 (-250), and the Lib Dems at 71 seats (+63).

Office for National Statistics reported a higher revised GDP growth figure for Q1 2024 of 0.7% (vs 0.6%).

S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector registered 50.9 in June, down from May’s 22-month high of 51.2. The PMI for the services sector fell to 52.1 in June, with the fall likely due to election uncertainty.

Calastone reported property fund outflows of £48m in June. £7.6bn in outflows have been recorded since 2016.

BNP Paribas Real Estate reports that UK PBSA investment soared to £1.7bn in H1 2024 – a 245% increase on the £493m recorded in H1 2023.

abrdn has acquired the Tandem Centre retail park in Colliers Wood for £60.8m, while Aviva Investors has purchased Brunel Retail Park, Reading for £26.4m and Greenridge has bought the Waitrose & Partners & John Lewis At Home unit on Futura Retail Park, Ipswich for £21.9m, reflecting a NIY of 8.1%.

Frasers Group has bought the Frenchgate Shopping Centre in Doncaster.

M&G Real Estate is to sell-down the remaining £300m of assets held in its frozen UK retail fund, while abrdn Property Income REIT is exploring a £400m portfolio sale.

NewRiver REIT plc has acquired Ellandi for an initial cash consideration of £5m which adds 16 shopping centre asset management mandates.

Over the past 20+ years solar panel efficiency has increased from 10% to nearer 25%, driving down costs. Perovkite-silicon tandem cells deliver high performance through capturing long and short wavelengths, while Bificial panels capture direct and reflected sunlight. New lightweight and flexible panels are allowing far wider application.

Mark Charlton – Real Estate Research Consultant at Waypoint

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