Office parks slow to catch up

Office business parks are struggling to keep up with the improvement in the commercial property market seen across the UK, says James Petherick at GVA Grimley in Cardiff.

While Central London offices have seen a sharp jump in performance in recent months, office business parks “have been slow to catch onto these first signs of optimism,” reports Wales Online.

“Office occupiers in this area therefore continue to be in a position of strength when negotiating new lease terms,” Petherick notes.

“The outlook overall remains positive for business parks. Take-up has been subdued, but rental decline has slowed significantly. The vacancy rate has risen and is now similar to the post dot-com bubble.”

Petherick goes on to declare: “We’re past the worst of it. The business parks market looks set to gradually strengthen in the short term, despite its slowness to react to improving conditions.”