LONDON (Reuters) – Land Securities is set to bring in Songbird’s Canary Wharf Group (CWG) as a partner to build a new skyscraper in London’s City financial district, sources close to the deal said on Friday.

Land Securities, the UK’s largest listed property company, is likely to announce the joint venture for the project at 20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie Talkie, later this month, the sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Land Securities (LAND.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is set
to bring in Songbird’s (SBDE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Canary Wharf Group (CWG) as a
partner to build a new skyscraper in London’s City financial
district, sources close to the deal said on Friday.

Land Securities, the UK’s largest listed property company,
is likely to announce the joint venture for the project at 20
Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie Talkie, later this
month, the sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Britain’s largest listed student
landlord Unite (UTG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday posted an 8 percent rise in
the value of its assets in the first half, and predicted rents
will grow by up to 4 percent for the full year.

Unite, which manages more than 38,000 student beds across
the UK, said its adjusted fully diluted net asset value per
share rose to 286 pence at end-June, from 265 pence at end-2009.

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Segro (SGRO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the UK’s largest
listed industrial property landlord, posted on Thursday a 1.1
percent rise in the value of its assets, and is eyeing new
developments amid growing interest from potential tenants.

Segro said its adjusted net asset value per share edged up
to 366 pence at end-June 2010, from 362 pence at end-December
2009, while net rental income rose 11.3 percent to 144.3 million
pounds ($222.5 million) from a year ago.

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – UK developer Capital & Counties
(CAPCC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said it is making progress on an 8,000-home
development in central London, as the value of its properties,
mainly based in the city, rose 5.3 percent in the first half of
2010.

The company, which split from UK’s largest mall-owner by
value Liberty International in May, said on Tuesday estimated
rental values at Covent Garden, one of London’s most popular
shopping piazzas, rose 3.5 percent, spurring hopes of a
long-awaited recovery in the country’s rents.

LONDON/BANGALORE (Reuters) – UK-listed self-storage property firms, with shorter leases and wider client bases, will likely outshine peers that own more conventional offices, malls and factories by snaring higher rents in a recovering economy.

With leases as brief as a week to a few months aimed at businesses and house-movers who need interim space, storage owners such as Big Yellow (BYG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Safestore (SAFE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) can quickly boost their income as occupancy picks up from the worst property downturn in decades.

LONDON/BANGALORE (Reuters) – UK-listed self-storage property firms, with shorter leases and wider client bases, will likely outshine peers that own more conventional offices, malls and factories by snaring higher rents in a recovering economy.

With leases as brief as a week to a few months aimed at businesses and house-movers who need interim space, storage owners such as Big Yellow (BYG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Safestore (SAFE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) can quickly boost their income as occupancy picks up from the worst property downturn in decades.

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) – Land Securities (LAND.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on
Wednesday unveiled plans to start its first major UK retail
development in five years, seeing a continued rise in property
values despite recent signs that growth has started to slow.

The UK’s largest property company by market value had
earlier anticipated the massive rebound in British commercial
property values since mid-2009 to ease when sellers exceed
buyers, Chief Executive Francis Salway said.

LONDON (Reuters) – ING Group may need to break up its world-leading real estate investment management unit to conclude a timely sale, as its bankers begin flushing out prospective buyers, sources close to the deal said.

Morgan Stanley has received a slew of expressions of interest to take over ING Real Estate Investment Management, just weeks after the Dutch bancassurer mandated the bank to evaluate a sale as part of a restructuring in the wake of its 10 billion euro ($12.60 billion) state bailout, the sources told Reuters.

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Banks are set to step up sales of struggling hotels, a boon for buyers such as private equity and sovereign wealth funds pursuing prestigious addresses and higher returns versus other commercial properties.

Hotels are likely the first properties in line to be sold by embattled banks seeking to repair balance sheets, with investor interest lifted by the beginnings of a return in business travel that was curtailed in the wake of 2008′s global financial crisis.