NovaLoca Blog

We have been really encouraged to read reports that we may be close to hitting the bottom of the market. The Guardian reported this week that Blackstone was close to a massive deal with British Land and also that there were signs of private equity funds committing to commercial property acquisitions once again.

The British Land deal, about which there has been much speculation, involves the office complex at Broadgate in the City of London, regarded by some as the crown jewel in its office portfolio. Reports suggest it is about to sell a half-share in Broadgate to the giant US private equity firm Blackstone. British Land has also put together £3bn of funding as it seeks to take advantage of depressed prices over the next couple of years, The Guardian reports. And where Blackstone goes, other private equity buyers are likely to follow, suggesting that a pick-up in market activity may be around the corner.

We are going to keep an eye on the leads coming in through NovaLoca to see if they are increasing. Despite all the difficulties in the commercial property market over the past two years, we have seen a fairly consistent flow of leads each month, but we understand that, looking overall at leads of all sources, conversions are down. Now perhaps the tide is due to turn, or at least an improvement in deal flow may not be far off.

Tell us what you think over the coming months – are more of the great leads sent through by NovaLoca starting to turn into deals?

And for those of you looking for space but hanging on for the best deal – maybe now is the time to act. We all want assurance that we are buying at the right time, but if really big players are starting to invest, perhaps the waiting is over and now is the time to look for deals.

For further information on the reports about Blackstone and British Land, click here

NovaLoca understands that Trading Standards has recently been putting pressure on Bedfordshire agents to ensure properties have EPCs (energy performance certificates). In fact, officers have stated that if agents do not start informing owners of their new obligations, they will go direct to property owners to encourage them to sue agents for misinformation.

Although the legislation has been around for a little while, it looks like the grace period is coming to an end – all commercial properties will need to be analysed for energy consumption before they can even be marketed.

At NovaLoca we are concerned about the additional pressure on agents and also on their clients. We want to make lives easier, so we are investigating EPC requirements and carrying out impartial research on various EPC providers, in an effort to do some of the work for you.

We are surprised at how long it is has taken us to conduct a full investigation, but this makes us all the more determined to help out, as it’s unreasonable to assume that each agent will have the time to do the same lengthy research.

If you have any information you think we should bear in mind, please let us know. In the meantime we are working on presenting you with helpful and impartial advice to consider when dealing with this new(ish!) legislation.

As another month draws to a close, another set of stats are released about the state of the residential and commercial property markets. Halifax today announced a 1.1% rise in the cost of residential properties during July (although they remain cautious in saying this will continue) whilst the RICS Q2 Commercial Property Survey drew the following conclusions of the commercial property market:

Demand

Overall tenant demand for commercial property continued to decline although the rate of decline did ease. This stabilisation was especially shown in the offices market, and, to a lesser extent, industrial properties, although demand for retail spaces continued to fall, especially in London and the Midlands. However, London did show mild increases in demand for office space whilst the industrial market showed declines in London and the Midlands but stabilised across the rest of the country.

Enquiries

Across the country, except the Midlands, enquiries for office space, at the least, stabilised and in some areas moderately increased. Whilst outside of London and the Midlands industrial property enquiries rose. Enquires for retail spaces continued to fall UK wide, although at a slower rate than previous quarters.

Availability

The level of commercial property floor space continued to rise, although at a much reduced rate than the previous quarter, across the UK with the exception being industrial properties in London where levels remained the same. Continuing the trend since the start of the downturn, retail properties continued to show the highest rises in availability. Whilst offices in central London showed a similar rate of availability as the previous quarter, offices in the Southern Counties showed a lesser rate of availability. Industrial properties across the UK recorded a reduced rate of availability.    

Whether you are looking for available commercial property or trying to sell or let your office, industrial unit or retail space we would love to hear from you: Do these reported trends reflect the experiences you are having in your area? Contact us and let us know your thoughts.