CLS Holdings has received planning consent for a hotel-led scheme in Vauxhall, south London. Aside from a 120-bed hotel, there will be nearly 400 student rooms, a community centre with cafe, and a retail unit. It plans to start building later this year.
This news accompanied an upbeat trading statement. The company has refinanced most of its loans due this year, £118m of debt in total, from a variety of European lenders. That has reduced its average cost of debt to 3.8 per cent, which compares very favourably to a portfolio rental yield of 7 per cent.
CLS owns offices on the fringes of London, which are cheaper and less glamorous than offices in the City or the West End, yet lettings remain stable, with a vacancy rate of 3.9 per cent overall. In London, the vacancy rate fell from 4 per cent to 3.7 per cent, but that was offset by rising vacancies in France – the lettings markets in Paris and Lyon has slowed.
