LONDON-Office Availability in the City of London rose by one fifth during the third quarter of 2001. With 2.9 million sf of office space available, the vacancy rate now stands at 4.5% according to King Sturge.

PARIS-The French mutual insurance company MACIF has sold its portfolio of ten European shopping centres to the Dutch property company Corio. The sale of the assets in France, Italy and Spain marks the start of MACIF's withdrawal from the retail sector.

LONDON-The West End seems to be bearing the brunt of the economic slowdown, with rents falling 6% over the third quarter of 2001, according to Insignia Richard Ellis. But the other central London sub-markets are holding steady.

LONDON-The Government is on track for a radical reform of the planning system, but emergency legislation in connection with the war on terrorism could prevent the changes taking effect for several years, according to planning minister Lord Falconer.

LONDON-Chesterton has announced 65 redundancies, on top of the 90 UK job losses at Jones Lang LaSalle as the full impact of the market downturn hits the London market.

LONDON-The Government is on track for a radical reform of the planning system, but emergency legislation in connection with the war on terrorism could prevent the changes taking effect for several years, according to planning minister Lord Falconer.

LONDON-Despite turbulence in the financial markets, performance property is continuing to show positive returns, according to the Association of Property Unit Trusts and HSBC.

BIRMINGHAM-Whitehaven in Cumbria won the overall BCSC Town Centre Environment Award, at the British Council of Shopping Centres convention in Birmingham today.