THREE of Britain’s biggest property development groups were given the green light yesterday to start building more than 1.5 million sq ft of new office and shopping projects in the City of London.

Gerald Ronson, the property entrepreneur, has been granted permission for a revised 41-storey skyscraper at 110 Bishopsgate, near Liverpool Street station — four storeys higher than the original project that was approved in 2002.

Mr Ronson plans to build the tower on a speculative basis, without prospective tenants, starting next year.

The extra four floors include a three-storey office village and an expanded public restaurant and bar. Design changes will make the building more energy efficient and there is a new public space at the base of the building.

Land Securities, the UK’s biggest quoted property company, has gained approval for an office and shopping project at One New Change, close to St Paul’s Cathedral. The 560,000 sq ft scheme is expected to start construction in the autumn.

UBS has been granted permission to demolish Mondial House, a former BT telephone exchange next to Cannon Street station, to make way for a 545,000 sq ft office and shopping project, which will be called Watermark Place.

The three projects will hope to benefit from improvements to the commercial office leasing market, which remained subdued in London last year.

It also emerged that Land Securities has agreed to sell a portfolio of shopping centres and high street shops to the Norwich Property Trust, part of Morley Fund Management, for just over £95 million.

• Liberty International, the FTSE 100 shopping centre company, said yesterday that it was unlikely to convert itself into a tax-efficient Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) if ministers insist on charging an upfront fee to convert.

  David Fischel, the chief executive of Liberty, said: “I don’t believe in the principle of paying money upfront to the Government.” Describing the idea as “ridiculous”, Mr Fischel said that there would be no escape net for companies if ministers altered the tax rate on Reits once they came into force.

  The Treasury has yet to issue details of its plans for a conversion charge for Reits but is expected to do so in the Budget. Mr Fischel proposed that ministers could assess the capital gains liabilities of a company wishing to convert to Reit status and then levy a charge if a company decided to dispose of any assets.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive