It is truly a sign of the times that the Foxtons at Vauxhall now has Chinese writing in its window.
That may seem like a strange observation, out of synch with a multicultural city such as London, but it’s rare. To my knowledge, no other branch of the ubiquitous metropolitan estate agent carries foreign lettering.
Of course, London has its Chinatown and obviously there are areas of the capital that belong to different nationalities. Nevertheless, Foxtons going Chinese at Vauxhall is a new departure and one that speaks volumes about the state of the property market in this district.
As soon as you make the connection with China, you can get what is happening at Vauxhall, or rather where real estate agents and developers desperately hope the future lies. It is a cluster of skyscrapers, several of them half-finished, containing lots of empty apartments.
From Vauxhall by the bridge and the MI6 security headquarters, along the Thames to Nine Elms, past the new US embassy, to the former Battersea Power Station, this is an area of colossal construction and redevelopment. When the American embassy move was announced, the plan was called Vaux-hattan in a nod to the tower block vibe of the leading city in the US.
These days, the theme has subtly shifted and a more prosaic name has become the reference point. London, which largely eschewed high-rise buildings, now has a new Vauxhall riverside strip with an official City Hall planning moniker of VNeB or Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea.
It is the home of the first workshop for the eponymous car brand. Once the preserve of wharves and barges and warehouses, not forgetting the UK’s biggest fruit and vegetable and flower markets, it was a semi-industrial landscape across the river from gentrified Chelsea. Now, it’s a paean to brutal modernism, a great wall of towers, straight out of Ridley Scott’s futuristic Blade Runner, that would not look out of sorts in, well, China.
Designated one of 28 Opportunity Areas in 2004 by the mayor of London at the time, Ken Livingstone, development there was intended to help alleviate the city’s housing shortage. Planning consents were relaxed and architects, several of them major names, and builders were invited to go for it.
The result is somewhere that was conceived as creating 3,500 new homes now boasts 20,000. To put that in context, as the architectural critic, Deyan Sudjic points out, it’s “the equivalent of building a town the size of Salisbury, albeit crammed on to a site six times smaller, giving it a density to match Lagos or Karachi".
Neither are these affordable properties. Some are, but not many. Mr Livingstone set a target of 50 per cent affordable housing. Under Mayor Sadiq Khan, it became 35 per cent, and in Wandsworth, the borough that largely embraces VNeB, it’s 15 per cent. But in parts of VNeB, it’s as low as 9 per cent.
The bulk of the homes are luxury apartments in blocks complete with gyms, swimming pools — one, Embassy Gardens, has a sky-high glass-bottomed pool spanning a 25-metre gap between two towers. Those at the top, in the penthouses and the floors immediately below, are on sale for several million pounds. They promise spectacular views, if you can see between the neighbouring structures.
Come down several levels and they are, to use a British phrase, ten a penny. Not quite — they’re still priced in the hundreds of thousands. But to give an idea, on the Rightmove property selling website, there are currently 114 two-bedroom apartments for sale in VNeB around the £500,000 mark. This in a city where the market remains heated, where property is in short supply. Where I live in South-West London, there are barely any two-bedroom apartments to purchase — several to rent but not buy.
The problem, too, is when you look at the 114 apartments, there is little to choose between them. They appear roughly the same, with similar dimensions and layouts and facilities. This, again, in a London that is not as comfortable with tower-living as other parts of the world. We have skyscrapers, but they’re still something of a rarity. Post-Grenfell and the never-to-be-forgotten horror of that fire, the urge to climb is less marked — thoughts of escape and exits are more to the fore.
Which is why Foxtons is advertising in Chinese. Unlike Canary Wharf, the equivalent in East London, which remained under the tight control of one developer and appears harmonious as a result, VNeB was a free-for-all. Developers piled in, each with their own design. The outcome is not only an aesthetic mishmash, but several players have become nervous about their finances as they vie with each other for purchasers.
Not surprisingly, in today’s global economy, the Chinese are prominent. Two firms from China, R&F from Guangzhou and CC Land, are behind the recasting of the old flower market at Nine Elms as Thames City, comprising some of the very tallest VNeB giants. CC Land belongs to billionaire Cheung Chungkiu, who recently paid £200m for a 45-bedroomed house in London’s Rutland Gate near Hyde Park.
Mr Cheung is one of those trying to keep Chinese property company Evergrande alive. If Evergrande was to collapse completely, the contagion could spread worldwide, cause huge nervousness and hit VNeB’s fortunes hard.
In the meantime, the owners are working hard at selling their apartments. Their most promising audience is China, specifically Hong Kong. Its inhabitants have no issue with towers — it’s what they’re used to. They’ve been sending their children to London to be educated and rather than put them up in student halls and they’ve bought flats at Vauxhall.
Increasingly, as China tightens its grip on the former British colony, many are choosing to leave completely. London and again, VNeB, is a favoured destination.
China might well prove the area’s salvation. Right now, many of the apartments are deserted. The outlook would change immeasurably if they were occupied and the new builds were alive and vibrant. VNeB’s future could reside in becoming a mini-Hong Kong. Looking at the dramatic but forlorn scene at present, it is hard to see where else another solution might derive.
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
Company%20profile
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Scores
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
65
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SPECS
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THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m; Winner: Mcmanaman, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Bawaasil, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Bochart, Fabrice Veron, Satish Seemar
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Mutaraffa, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Rare Ninja, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alfareeq, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Zorion, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
