Estates Gazette at LREF 2025
Wednesday, 17 September
Wednesday, 17 September
8:30am – 10:00am
Closed roundtable in partnership with Avison Young
Making the Most of Local Authority Assets: Turning Places into Opportunities
London is always changing — and its local authorities are at the heart of responding to financial, demographic and spatial trends, and shaping what comes next.
This roundtable, hosted in partnership with Avison Young, will look at how the capital’s local authorities are addressing these trends with respect to their own assets — both investment and operational.
With local authorities under increasing pressure to save cost, generate revenue and unlock regeneration opportunities, we’ll explore how they are adapting their approach to their property portfolios. From understanding the current state of assets, to public-private partnerships and the latest policy shifts, we’ll break down what’s working, what’s changing and where the real opportunities lie.
We’ll share real-life examples from across London boroughs, showing how local authorities can prioritise opportunities for making the most of property assets, ensuring they make a positive impact in terms of people, place and portfolio performance.
Wednesday, 17 September
12:00 – 12:45
Venue: The Great Hall In partnership with Savills
How is London perceived as a place of Investment?
Our annual look at the investment market in London brings together leading protagonists from across continents and sectors to chart sentiment and discuss their view of the year ahead.
- Chair: Tim Burke, Editor, Estates Gazette
- Richard Garside, Director, Savills
- Matthew Bonning Snook, Chief Executive, Helical
- Hannah Milne: Managing Director, Real Estate, The Crown Estate
Wednesday, 17 September
4:00pm - 5.00pm
Closed Roundtable in partnership with Montagu Evans
Beyond the boom: Rewriting the rulebook for regeneration
For decades, urban development was driven by successive waves of prosperity, with retail, office, and residential sectors each going through buoyant periods. However, the landscape has fundamentally changed, and traditional pillars of growth now face significant challenges. This calls for a re-evaluation of how we invest, build, and regenerate across the UK.
This roundtable will address the important question: How can the real estate industry, in partnership with government and local authorities, reverse these trends and unlock a truly new mode of operation for regeneration? We will look beyond past cycles to explore the strategic shifts needed to revive struggling assets and underutilised land. What innovative, adaptive strategies are proving successful in creating resilient place-making instead of relying on specific boom cycles?
Our discussion will also explore how to develop forward-looking master plans and policies that support rather than hinder agile, mixed-use, and community-focused development. We’ll look at how the public sector can use its sizable landholdings more strategically and creatively, identifying the policy tools needed to reduce project risks, attract investment, and foster the collaboration required for impactful, large-scale regeneration. Can real estate set a course for a sustainable, equitable, and economically thriving regenerated UK?