Would you like the good news or the bad?
There’s been a bit of gloom skulking about this blog for the past few days, so we thought we’d find some more positive comments for you today, seeing as it’s Friday.
First up is property group Shaftesbury, which invests in London’s West End. The group today reported that this area of the city had an excellent Christmas, with shops and restaurants seeing good trading conditions. The healthy demand for these types of commercial properties has now spread to office space in the West End, the group added, which has meant it has continued to secure lettings at or above its valuers’ last estimated rental values.
Shaftesbury reported a sharp fall in the amount of vacant commercial space available to let that it has on its books – particularly office space, which shrank from 42,000 sq ft at the end of September 2009 to just 18,000 sq ft as of the end of January this year.
Phew! Let’s move on to British Land, which reported better than expected third-quarter results this week and saw its shares rise in response. The group’s Q3 NAV rose 18% to 438p and its property portfolio grew 8.2% in value. British Land said it had seen strong growth in all sectors and in particular commented on the 250,000 sq ft of office space it currently has under offer in London. Property Week has noted the lively activity levels for office space in the City of London – it says there are more than 700,000 sq ft of office leasing transactions under way in this small area – although it concludes that, sadly, the rest of the UK still has a long way to go.
So if you’re in Central London you’re smiling, if you’re elsewhere you may be less euphoric. But at least you’re not on the other side of the Atlantic – those of a nervous disposition should under no circumstances look at the Congressional Oversight Panel’s report on commercial property losses in the US. Now that really is bad news.
