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Landlords ‘in tears’ over ‘hidden’ estate agency costs following Foxtons case: The landlord at the centre of a dispute with Foxtons over a £616 bill to repair a light fitting has said more than 100 landlords and tenants have contacted him with concerns over how estate agents operate.

Aberdeen Asset Management: switcheroo time: It all looks so run of the mill. The 7am announcement, the heavy use of legalese in the first paragraph and the relatively small sum in question all suggest a bland piece of news. But Aberdeen Asset Management’s decision to raise £100 million by selling preference shares to Mitsubishi UFJ, its largest shareholder, is troubling. That is because six weeks ago Aberdeen (which has a market capitalisation of £5.4 billion) said it would spend £100 million buying back ordinary shares. So, out goes £100 million on a buyback, in comes £100 million of pref capital. Who, other than the banks in the middle, benefits from the switcheroo? Aberdeen says the money from the new shares will be used to seed new funds. But even though the prefs will save money, they leave an unsatisfactory taste. The prefs will come ahead of the ordinaries in the dividend pecking order. But only Mitsubishi was given the chance to buy the prefs, and they are unlikely to be traded. If anyone else likes the sound of them, tough. But if the aim is to save money on dividends, then surely Aberdeen could have gone further and given other shareholders the right to buy prefs too? Aberdeen is trying to prove that it is more than just a play on emerging markets equity funds. Small-scale fiddling with the capital structure should be off the agenda.

Lancashire planners give go-ahead to Cuadrilla fracking plan: Shale gas explorer Cuadrilla has been given a green light by local planning officers to “frack” up to four wells in the Lancashire countryside near Blackpool, a move that is expected to lead to the first such drilling campaign in four years in the U.K.

Investors driving world property market values to hit $13.6 trillion: The total value of the world’s property markets hit a record high of $13.6 trillion in 2014, up 4% year on year, as investors poured cash into real estate assets around the world

Majestic’s Rowan Gormley reveals plans to get retailer on course: Majestic Wine’s new Chief Executive promised he could “create significant value for its shareholders” but warned that it would cost at least £3 million to turn the business around

Investors from all over the globe join the student digs frenzy: Frenzied investor appetite for student accommodation in the U.K. saw more than £670 million of deals agreed

Half-built stump to rise to new heights: Construction of the building formerly known as the Pinnacle was halted in 2012 during the property slump, with only the foundations, basement and lift core to level nine completed. It was dubbed the Stump.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 2.65% or $1.66 higher at $64.27 per barrel, ahead of the American Petroleum Institute weekly oil inventory data, scheduled to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract dropped 1.97% or $1.26, to settle at $62.61 per barrel, extending its recent decline amid concerns of a global glut in oil supply.

Helical Bar wins tenant for former Shoreditch carpet factory: Helical Bar has pre-let two thirds of its Shoreditch-based C Space office block to DLKW Lowe. The creative advertising agency, which counts Unilever and

No end in sight for house price boom: Average asking price for a London home soars to more than £600,000

Mobile banking has eclipsed branches and even the rest of the internet: Britons are now checking their bank balance on their mobile phones more than anywhere else, leaving more traditional services like a visit to the high street branch in decline.

Rush to buy after Conservative victory pushes house prices to record: House prices have shot up to record highs after the Conservative election victory triggered a rush to buy in an overcrowded market.

Wages predicted to increase at fastest rate since financial crisis: Real wages are expected to have grown by their fastest rate since October 2007, according to official figures published later this week.

Coal: ****ged off: Coal is the most hated commodity in the world. The tale of woe is familiar: falling demand in China, cheaper gas and subsidised renewable energy in North America and Europe, tighter emissions regulations. Surely it must be in decline, then? Not quite. Consumption grew 0.4% last year, against a 10-year average of 2.9%, according to BP’s energy review. But supply cuts have been slow in coming, so coal prices have slid — for thermal coal (used in power generation) from about $120 a tonne in 2012 to $59 now. Ditto share prices, especially in the U.S. Walter Energy is down 99% from its 2011 peak. It “deferred” a $19 million interest payment on its debt this week. Most of the best assets in Australia, South Africa and Latin America are locked up in the diversified mining groups. Of these, even at those most exposed to coal, South 32 and Glencore, coal accounts for less than a fifth and a tenth of profits respectively. Shares in Chinese coal producers have been overinflated by the domestic equity boom; Shaanxi Coal has nearly tripled in a year. Indonesia, home to several large players, has a poor reputation for corporate governance. The U.S. looks like a falling knife.

Saudi Arabia opens its $560 billion stock market to foreign investors: Saudi Arabia’s stock market is opening to foreign investors, marking a step forward in the oil-rich kingdom’s economic reform efforts that could attract a rush of overseas investment in the coming years

Renewable power will overtake coal if climate pledges are kept: Wind, solar and other types of renewable power will overtake coal to become the world’s top source of electricity in just 15 years if the pledges countries are making for a global climate change deal this year are met.

London faces council housing wipeout: Labour has accused the Tory government of “social cleansing” in central London by forcing councils to sell off their most expensive homes as they fall vacant in the coming years.

Sell-off of council houses will raise less than Ministers expect: Ministers have overestimated how much money they can raise from a mass sell-off of council houses — designed to pay for a big extension of Right to Buy — according to an exclusive data analysis for the Financial Times.

Patisserie Valerie plans expansion into Ireland: When the Belgian-born Madame Valérie decided to introduce the English to continental patisserie in 1926, she is said to have enjoyed instant success, even surviving the destruction of her first premises in Soho’s Frith Street during the Blitz.

UK construction output advanced more than expected in April Construction output advanced 1.50% on an annual basis in April, in the UK, compared to a revised rise of 5.00% in the prior month. Markets were anticipating construction output to rise 0.50%