Thursday newspaper round-up: RICS, Sky-21st Century Fox, AkzoNobel

The UK housing market is continuing to slow down, with falling property sales, “stagnant” buyer demand and general election uncertainty all adding up to one of the most downbeat reports issued by surveyors since the financial crash. In its latest monthly snapshot of the market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said momentum was “continuing to ebb,” with no sign of change in the near future. – Guardian

Dramatic increases in the minimum wage planned by Labour and the Conservatives after the general election will put the jobs of low income workers in danger, a leading tax and spending thinktank has warned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said accelerating the pace of rises in the minimum wage and the “national living wage” (NLW) for the rest of the decade could price workers out of a job, with young people the worst affected. – Guardian

Murdoch-owned 21st Century Fox said it is confident that its proposed £11.7bn merger with Sky will receive approval by the end of 2017. Fox, which is controlled by the Murdoch empire, already owns 39pc of Sky, but is hoping to gain full control. The deal got the green light from the European Commission last month, with the anti-trust watchdog saying the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe. - Telegraph

Paris-based investment firm AEW is to float a new UK real estate business on the London Stock Exchange, with plans to raise up to £150m. The company will release a notice of its intention to list its UK Long Lease Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on Thursday morning, selling shares for £1 each. – Telegraph

Another top shareholder in Akzo Nobel has launched a damning assault on the Dulux paints owner for its refusal to support a €27 billion takeover of the group. In the most excoriating of attacks in a string of increasingly personal criticisms of Akzo Nobel’s chairman and chief executive by leading shareholders, Tweedy, Browne, a US investor, has increased the onslaught over three refusals by the company to bow to a takeover by American arch-rival PPG. – The Times

The only marina in central London is on the market for £435 million. St Katharine Docks, which hosts 80 firms and more than 6,000 workers near Tower Bridge, is the latest valuable property to be put up for sale amid rising demand from Asian investors. Blackstone, the private equity firm, has hired CBRE and GM Real Estate to sell the marina. – The Times