Surveyors see rental squeeze deepen
The latest RICS Residential Market Survey points toward continued tightening in the UK rental market. The survey captures sentiment among chartered surveyors rather than direct transaction data, with results expressed as net balances: the difference between respondents reporting an increase and those reporting a decrease.
Tenant demand registered +14% in May, while landlord instructions remained firmly negative at -28%, pointing to a persistent supply-demand imbalance as landlords continue to exit the sector. Near-term rent expectations climbed to +36%, up from +26% the previous month and the highest reading since May last year.
The tension between reduced supply and resilient demand points toward further upward pressure on rents for stock entering the market. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the context of the Renters’ Rights Act, which limits existing tenants to one rent increase a year. With less scope for landlords to adjust in-tenancy rents gradually toward market rate, the gap between sitting-tenant rents and market rents may widen until a property is re-let, meaning some of this inflationary pressure could be passed on disproportionately to new tenants entering the market.
Institutional capital expands into UK hospitality
Italian insurer Generali has acquired the four-star Novotel Tower Bridge hotel in London, marking its first UK hospitality investment. The transaction extends the group’s existing pan-European hospitality portfolio.
Major retail asset returns to the market
Knight Frank has been instructed on the sale of the Metrocentre in Gateshead, one of the UK’s largest shopping centres, with an anticipated valuation of at least £500m.
Development finance supports industrial pipeline
Aureon and Arax have secured a £42.3m development facility from Investec Bank for Falcon Business Park in Loughborough. The transaction underlines the continued availability of development finance for industrial and logistics schemes where sponsors, location and underlying occupational demand remain compelling.
Manor Farm, Slough: What a Planning Decision Tells Us About the Future of Digital Infrastructure
Tritax Big Box REIT’s long-awaited planning appeal to convert its Manor Farm site into a hyperscale data centre has been granted by the Secretary of State. A six-week window remains for High Court challenge, but the decision, handed down on 10 June 2026, is already illuminating. In this week’s Long View, we consider what this means for parts of the market tracking digital infrastructure, Green Belt exposure, and the long-running saga of Heathrow’s third runway.
The Backstory
The application sought permission for a hyperscale data centre with approximately 72 MW of IT capacity, alongside a 100 MW Battery Energy Storage System, substation, backup generators and associated works across 8.16 hectares in Poyle, west of Heathrow.
The planning process has been protracted. After Slough Borough Council failed to determine the application within the prescribed period, the appeal was lodged in May 2025 and escalated to ministerial level a few months later. An inquiry followed in October 2025. Following that, the Inspector recommended permission be granted. Minister of State Matthew Pennycook MP agreed, issuing the formal decision on 10 June 2026.
The Grey Belt Argument
A central driver in the decision was the finding that Manor Farm constitutes grey belt land.
Introduced by Labour through the December 2024 NPPF, the concept designates certain parts of the Green Belt that do not make a meaningful contribution to the purposes for which Green Belt policy exists. A more permissive test for planning applications applies as a result. The decision concluded the site did not strongly contribute to the core Green Belt purposes of preventing sprawl or the merging of settlements. Furthermore, local development policies, drawn up before the grey belt concept existed, were out of date and unable to adequately assess the proposal against the revised Green Belt framework.
The decision offers an important early indication of how the grey belt concept will operate in an infrastructure context.
The Scale of Demand
The Secretary of State agreed that unmet need for data centre capacity in the Slough Availability Zone stands at a significant 1,259 MW. The development in question would contribute approximately 72 MW. The Council’s evidence on need in the decision was found to be flawed and overly narrow. Moreover, as detailed in the decision, the NPPF is explicit that planning decisions must recognise the specific locational requirements of data-driven industries including data centres. The Secretary of State gave this point significant weight.
The issue of need, combined with the grey belt finding, ultimately shifted the balance of the decision.
The Heathrow Question
Heathrow appeared as an interested party, arguing the site should be protected for future logistics purposes connected to a potential third runway. The Secretary of State found this argument carried only limited weight. Interestingly, this was not a reflection of party politics, but due to the third runway’s planning status (or lack of one). No application for development consent has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in connection with the third runway proposal. The site therefore carries no designation in any adopted Development Plan protecting it for airport-related uses. The fact that the proposal has been discussed politically for years does not alter the reality that it currently carries limited planning weight.
There are two key implications. Heathrow expansion remains, in planning terms, at an early stage whatever the political temperature, and proximity to the airport does not of itself grant any informal preferential status. For those holding or acquiring land in this area, the practical takeaway is that Heathrow’s objections, absent formal planning weight, are unlikely to prove fatal to well-evidenced applications.
The Tilted Balance
Under the NPPF, when the policies most important for determining an application are out of date (e.g. the local plan), the general presumption shifts. The question is no longer about whether the application is consistent with the local plan but whether the adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. This is known as the “tilted balance.”
The application of the tilted balance to a commercial infrastructure scheme is rarer and therefore particularly instructive. In this instance, the Council was found not to have progressed a meaningful Local Plan review. The existing policies also predated the introduction of the grey belt concept and the policy shift towards data centres as a locational priority. In that sense they were deemed inadequate for assessing the application against the current policy framework.
The harms identified, including landscape and visual effects assessed as minor (though carrying moderate weight in relation to the Strategic Gap – the locally designated area of open land intended to prevent the merging of Slough and Greater London), and “less than substantial harm” to two Grade II listed buildings, were considered. But they did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. For investors active in areas with out-of-date local plans, the decision confirms the tilted balance is not confined to housing. Where an infrastructure application can demonstrate unmet need and locational specificity, the same presumption can be engaged.
A Note of Caution
The decision is not yet final. Any party with standing has six weeks to bring a challenge in the High Court. Heathrow remains a potential challenger. If the decision stands, it is likely to become an important persuasive precedent for future infrastructure schemes facing similar policy questions. Either way, those tracking data centre development in the Slough and Heathrow area, the broader digital infrastructure pipeline, or the practical application of Labour’s planning reforms should watch developments over the next six weeks carefully.
Stamp duty reform calls intensify
The HCLG Committee has called for reform of stamp duty as part of a wider package to improve housing affordability, recommending the government consult on alternatives by the end of 2026 alongside a reform of council tax. Committee chair Florence Eshalomi stated that “reform of stamp duty is necessary but, especially given the public finance implications, this cannot be done in isolation or without a credible alternative in place.”
Ground rent cap could be brought forward
There are growing reports that the prime minister is considering bringing forward the ground rent cap by a year, amid pressure from MPs following May’s local elections. For context, the proposed cap would limit ground rents on most existing long leases to £250 a year, reducing to a peppercorn after a 40-year transitional period.
The Early Viewer provides news, analysis and commentary for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, financial or legal advice and does not recommend the buying, selling or holding of any security or investment. Analysis reflects the author’s views at the time of publication and is not tailored to any reader’s individual circumstances. Readers should seek independent professional advice before making investment decisions.