Paper Round: Flood repairs hit £1.5bn

Flood repair bill in the north-east to reach £1.5bn

The estimated cost of insurance claims following last week’s floods that left large parts of South Yorkshire and Humberside under water have risen to £1.5bn, the weekend FT reports. The paper says that local authorities in the worst hit areas are threatening to increase council tax to cover the repairs, unless the government provides more money to meet the spiralling costs.

Metronet may pay for late Tube work

The official deciding on emergency funding for the main private contractor on the London Underground is likely to award less money for work that is behind schedule, according to little-noticed guidance published by his office, the FT reported at the weekend.

Expansion at Luton airport scrapped

London Luton Airport has abandoned its ambitious plan to triple in size by 2030 as part of a £1.5bn scheme that would have delivered a new full-length runway in time for the 2012 London Olympics, the FT reports.

The Poster Boy of Private Equity

The Sunday Telegraph featured a profile of Philip Yea, chief executive of private equity firm, 3i saying despite being praised as running a private equity company that MPS consider to be ‘different’ and better than many others, he was not going to be drawn into the ‘witch-hunt’.

Flooding blamed on failure to upgrade ancient sewers

Old drains which have been ignored for years have been identified as one of the potential causes of the flooding in the north of England last week according to the Sunday Telegraph. The government has been blamed for years of underinvestment in the upkeep of the crumbling drainage networks.

Estate agents angry at Tesco property website

The Times on Saturday said that Tesco’s property website has been threatened with legal action as thousands of estate agents demand that their housing stock be removed. Tesco launched the site five days ago but The Times said that agents listed on the site are concerned that it may conflict with their business.

Standard Life in property price warning as it cuts funds’ values

The Times reported that Standard Life has slashed the value of its £4.5bn property funds, indicating a serious warning about price falls in the £700bn UK commercial property sector.

Criminal steeple chase as lead price goes through roof

The Times said that thieves are stripping lead from the rooftops of churches to profit from “an extraordinary” rise in the metal’s price on world markets. Insurers have reported a flood of claims as the price of lead on London’s Metal Exchange continues to soar.