Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Commercial Property Use setting UK Commercial Property
The most recent commercial property data have been surprisingly upbeat and have raised the possibility that the recovery could be stronger than expected. But we think investors may have run ahead of themselves and this trend is unlikely to be sustained …
16th September 2021
With more hybrid working post-pandemic, the view is that office rents will be under pressure for many years. This raises questions about which locations could be more resilient and if rents in central business districts (CBDs) will perform better than …
8th September 2021
Materials shortages restrain activity The further easing in the construction PMI in August was due to materials shortages rather than any softening in demand. The drop in the headline construction PMI from 58.7 in July to 55.2 in August suggested that, …
6th September 2021
Consensus could be surprised on the downside beyond 2022 The upgrades to the IPF Consensus views for this year still leaves them below our forecast. However, our more downbeat view on the outlook for offices because of the shift to more remote working …
3rd September 2021
Second consecutive fall in net lending as banks tighten on repayments The fall in July’s net lending total was the fastest drop since last July. As investment activity remained healthy and the economic recovery remains solid, it is likely that lenders …
31st August 2021
Overview – The economic recovery has lost some momentum over the summer, but we expect that this will be a temporary setback and the backdrop will be strong into the medium term. There is growing evidence of a sustained commercial property upturn, albeit …
25th August 2021
New plans have extended Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) on commercial property, allowing swifter conversion to residential use. These have been cautiously welcomed, but, in our view, they do not radically shift the outlook for either residential or …
18th August 2021
On our measure, property looked slightly worse value relative to bond and equities in Q2. The worsening was due to a marked fall in property yields, driven by the industrial sector. Outside of over-valued industrial, all other property sectors remained …
16th August 2021
Cities are central to property performance. And the largest are seen as hugely important by investors. But the pandemic has turned many received ideas about real estate on their head and we think that performance in gateway markets will remain relatively …
10th August 2021
The recent downward revision to our GDP growth forecasts and the recent hawkish signs from the Bank of England which prompted us to bring forward our forecast of when monetary policy will be tightened means the economic backdrop is a bit less conducive …
9th August 2021
Recovery gathers pace, but may prove short-lived The latest RICS survey confirmed that construction activity rose strongly in Q2 and suggests expectations are upbeat about the outlook. But while we think output is likely to remain strong in the coming …
5th August 2021
Construction PMI dips, but underlying demand strong July’s construction PMI figure was slightly disappointing compared with the previous month’s highs. But it continued to point to robust activity and we think any dip is most likely a reflection of …
Office and retail pessimism eases, while industrial sentiment still buoyant Surveyors indicated that both occupier demand and investment enquiries improved in Q2 on the back of stronger industrial activity. Looking ahead, expectations for office and …
29th July 2021
Net lending falls sharply as repayments rise As the economic recovery gathers pace, lenders have been less willing to grant further payment holidays to landlords and a rise in repayments probably explains the sharp decline in net lending in June. Looking …
Less favourable demand fundamentals and less scope for yield compression mean that European residential returns are likely to be lower in the coming years than over the previous decade. An analysis of the relative outlook across selected western European …
27th July 2021
The acceleration in all-property capital growth in June reflected a sharp fall in yields and strong rental growth. But, even as a fast economic rebound boosts occupier demand in the coming months, we think this rate of growth in values will not be …
23rd July 2021
The supermarket yield spread to “all-retail” has grown to almost the level it reached in 2009. However, we think there are good reasons for this. Admittedly there are risks ahead for the sector that could dent future prospects, but for now, supermarkets …
22nd July 2021
While longer-term drivers are supportive of flexible offices, we think demand for space will be held back by the slow return of workers to the office, by more competition from home offices and by high levels of cheap, vacant traditional space. A year ago, …
20th July 2021
Easing lending conditions to support house prices A further easing of concerns about the outlook for property prices and the economy suggests that mortgage lending conditions will continue to improve. That will help ensure that house prices are resilient …
15th July 2021
While London rents are set to reverse some of the fall of the past year, we doubt the premium of rents in the capital over the national average will return to its pre-virus level. But outside London rental growth is set to accelerate sharply. London …
13th July 2021
Although we expect the economic outlook will continue to improve, we think that South East office rents will still edge lower this year. What’s more, we don’t expect much of a rebound in 2022, as a shift to remote working will continue to weigh on demand. …
7th July 2021
Construction booming despite difficulty sourcing materials Despite a further deterioration in the availability of building materials, construction output rose at the fastest pace since 1997 in June. That suggests output in the sector is now well above …
6th July 2021
The government’s furlough scheme is regarded as one of the successes of the UK’s coronavirus policy response, but all good things must come to an end. Over the next few months, its unwinding will bring some risks, though we do not expect these to have a …
2nd July 2021
A surprise rise, but net lending is likely to fall again soon After falling sharply in April, net lending rose in May. We think this can be explained by the extension of payment holidays rather than an increase in new loans. Further ahead, we expect a …
29th June 2021
We think that delayed Central London office projects and new industrial starts will drive commercial construction output this year. But once the backlog of delayed projects has been exhausted, we think structural factors and high costs will deter …
24th June 2021
A year ago, we were just digesting the impact of remote working, but already permanent change looked likely. And while we know more now and continue to refine our views, we see little reason to change our conclusions from last summer that office demand …
23rd June 2021
We think there’s a good chance that when the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) starts to tighten monetary policy it will do it by unwinding some quantitative easing (QE) before it raises interest rates. That would be consistent with the …
22nd June 2021
The improvements in all-property rents and capital values continued in May, supporting our view that we are at the start of a slow recovery in property. Looking ahead, with non-essential retail and most of leisure now open, and the final restrictions …
18th June 2021
Recent strong inflation data have heightened concerns about global price pressures. At present, we think there will be limited impact on short-term property performance. Further out though, higher inflation expectations reinforce the view that bond yields …
16th June 2021
Upbeat economic data suggest that consumers have been flocking back to the shops since the reopening of non-essential retail in April. But this is probably not enough to turn around the fortunes of a troubled sector yet. After all, the strong bounce in …
14th June 2021
With emission targets needing to be met by 2030, the race is on for the real estate sector to decarbonise. By forcing tenants and landlords to share the risks, benefits and costs of environmental policies, green commercial leases are a promising tool, and …
10th June 2021
The acceleration of structural shifts is likely to result in some conversion of retail and to a lesser extent office space to urban logistics use. However, we think these conversions will be relatively limited given the significant shortfall in values …
9th June 2021
High materials prices fail to stifle strong activity Construction output rose further above pre-virus levels in May despite growing shortages of contractors and materials, and high cost inflation. The rise in the headline construction PMI from 61.6 in …
4th June 2021
Net lending expected to stay negative in the near-term We think a reduced willingness by lenders to allow for further payment holidays probably explains the sharp fall in net lending to property in April. Looking ahead, we expect subdued transaction …
2nd June 2021
Near-term upgrades at the expense of slower recovery in values later on While the IPF Consensus Forecasts saw notable upgrades for this year and next, t his comes at the expense of weaker performance in all sectors later in the forecast period. Despite …
28th May 2021
Capital growth was solid in April at 0.5% m/m, although that reflected a slight reduction from the rate seen in March. Looking ahead, we expect the recovery in economic activity to continue which will support demand for commercial property. However, …
Our forecasts that the Bank of England won’t tighten monetary policy until much later than the markets expect and that when it does it will unwind some quantitative easing (QE) first (perhaps in 2024) before raising interest rates (perhaps in 2025) is …
24th May 2021
Overview – The easing of restrictions is good news for the economy, but some commercial property sectors will be slower to benefit than others. Encouragingly, the property downturn was not as bad as we anticipated and the data for Q1 suggest that we may …
21st May 2021
Retail has been the hardest hit of the major sectors during the pandemic, though hope is returning with the re-opening of economies. But new challenges are emerging. In particular, we think that more home working will divert (already-weak) instore retail …
18th May 2021
After a marked rise in gilt yields and a fall in real estate yields, property looked relatively more expensive in Q1 than in Q4. Despite this, property sectors still look either undervalued or fairly valued on our measure, except for the industrial sector …
13th May 2021
Construction activity stays strong, though growing signs of cost pressures Strong demand for new projects brought further growth in output during April, according to the latest construction PMIs. But there is also growing evidence of cost pressures, …
7th May 2021
Construction recovery well underway as optimism builds The RICS Construction Survey points to a rise in output at the start of this year, with the highest workload reading since Q1 2016. Looking ahead, respondents are more optimistic about the outlook but …
6th May 2021
More working from home will inevitably change cities as we know them. However, cities are more than just workers. This means that cities where a higher share of jobs can be done remotely are not necessarily the ones where the impact of remote working on …
5th May 2021
Second consecutive rise in net lending but lenders to act cautiously We think the extension of payment holidays boosted net lending again in March. But as the economy bounces back in H2, lenders are less likely to allow for these concessions and we expect …
4th May 2021
After a 20% y/y fall in 2020, we think the economic recovery in H2 and some pent-up demand will support an improvement in investment activity this year. Though we estimate that totals will rise by 25% y/y to £50bn this year, this would still make it a …
30th April 2021
Surveyors less downbeat about office and retail, more bullish on industrial The Q1 RICS survey showed that while occupier demand continued to fall, investment enquiries picked up, mostly due to rising industrial activity. Looking ahead, surveyors are less …
29th April 2021
Although last year probably marked a low point for lending towards commercial property, we expect the recovery will be subdued this year. After all, lenders have indicated that the availability of credit will remain weak in the coming months and a slow …
23rd April 2021
A turnaround in returns during March hinted at a brighter outlook, though this mainly reflected favourable base effects. We think both structural and cyclical headwinds remain and do not see this as the start of a sustained recovery. With restrictions …
21st April 2021
Confirmation banks’ risk appetite is returning Robust house price growth and the prospect of a strong economic recovery have caused banks’ risk appetite to return. As a result, banks expect to increase the availability of high LTV loans and reduce …
15th April 2021
At face value, news of a marked rise in industrial completions this year should imply that rents may come under pressure soon. However, we expect strong occupier demand and the limited amount of speculative space to support rental growth in the sector. In …
14th April 2021
