UK Commercial Property Update How promising is the recent fall in retail vacancy rates? Retail vacancy rates edged down in H2 2010, but with consumer spending likely to decline this year and more empty retail properties proving harder to re-let than ever before, we do not think that this... 19th January 2011 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Higher investor interest may support shopping centre returns in 2011 The scope for active asset management to boost shopping centre returns will explain most of the recent rise in investor interest in the segment. Although its importance can be overstated in a year... 13th January 2011 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Further reasons to be cautious about pace of office rental recovery The latest data from the CBI and PwC suggest that financial services sector output rose in the final three months of 2010 but that employment fell sharply. What’s more, the fact that headcounts are... 10th January 2011 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Lenders' leniency hinges on low inflation and interest rates Recent Bank of England and De Montfort University reports suggest that deleveraging in the UK commercial property sector is likely to continue in a slow but reasonably orderly fashion. However, one... 17th December 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Retail suffering from rising vacancy amongst non-prime buildings IPD vacancy rate data support the widely-held view that non-prime property has suffered more than prime from a rise in empty floorspace over the past two years. The figures also suggest that the... 9th December 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Effect on average prices of falls in secondary segment may be muted Transactions activity has cooled recently, with anecdotal evidence suggesting a buyer/seller stand-off in the secondary segment has been a contributing factor. On IPD data, this segment is fairly... 11th November 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update RICS data highlight lingering office occupier market uncertainty Recent RICS data suggest that office rental values across the UK may fall slightly in Q4. We suspect that this will prove too pessimistic. Even so, the data are a timely reminder of the fragility of... 9th November 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Outlook for Central London office rents in 2011 now less positive Central London office rents will rise further. However, the revival of the medium-term development pipeline should ease occupiers’ fears about being stuck in unsuitable premises. Together with the... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Industrial rental values likely to fall further The dataflow on the industrial sector of the economy generally remains a little patchy but the CBI’s employment intentions balance nevertheless still points to a strong rebound in industrial property... 19th October 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Low supply unlikely to lead to surge in shopping centre rents New shopping centre completions are likely to remain low over the next 12 to 15 months. As in the London office markets, this could lead to a spike in prime rents as occupiers compete to secure a... 12th October 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Treat negative tone of property derivatives pricing with care The prospects for commercial property returns, while not without downside risks, are better than current derivatives pricing implies. The key problem here is that landlords, i.e. “producers” of... 5th October 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Financial services recovery continues; office rental outlook solid Today’s CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey suggested that, in Q3 2010, output in this sector of the economy rose for the fifth consecutive quarter. A composite measure of some of the main survey... 27th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Vacant space to weigh on industrial rents for some time to come The industrial sector of the economy has recorded decent growth in recent quarters but the outlook for GDP, ultimately the key influence on demand for industrial property, remains weak. And with the... 23rd September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Effective City office rental values to continue to outperform Headline IPD City office rental values fell by less than the West End during the 2008/09 downturn. But effective rents in the City market actually fared much worse. Since the end of 2009, however... 9th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Will regional office markets follow London’s lead in 2011? Notwithstanding some less encouraging recent news (e.g. yesterday’s reports of looming job cuts at Barclays Capital), London’s City and West End office occupier markets are in recovery mode. Past... 12th August 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Fading sentiment signals an end to capital value gains It is pretty clear that property investors’ sentiment has cooled in recent weeks. Accordingly there seems to be little scope for further gains in capital values. But with bond yields likely to stay... 2nd August 2010 · 1 min read
