Special Guest Post by Carlo Pandian
Commercial
property developers in the West End are finding that the UK is still a
powerful centre for business, despite the recent re-entry into
recession.
Business property in
London continues to go from strength to strength, and is being supported
by overseas investors, who continue to see London as a safe-haven amid
the Eurozone crisis, and by growing TMT industries that are continuing
to expand their operating space.
Overseas investors account for over half of acquisitions in London, an increase of 57% on a decade ago.
A
major developer, Great Portland Estates, reports that it was able to
let a record amount of commercial property space in the past year, which
has driven up the value of its £2 billion London property portfolio by
over 9%.
Similarly, Shaftesbury,
which owns a considerable amount of property in London’s West End,
reported that its entire portfolio had been “virtually fully let”,
though it saw a more restrained half-year rise in the value of its
portfolio (1.4%), with all of its assets let.
"London's
West End continues to be busy and prosperous”, said chief executive
Brian Bickell. “Our portfolio, underwritten by the West End's special
features and attractions, continues to flourish and we remain confident
that it will continue over time to deliver rising income and rental
values.
“This in turn should bring
long term growth in capital values which, coupled with low obsolescence
in our assets, should allow us to maintain our record of out-performing
the wider property market."
Toby
Courtauld, chief executive of Great Portland, said that London’s
property market remains a secure favourite against the instability of
the UK and Eurozone economies.
“Nothing is ever totally bulletproof but London property is a very good place to be”, he said.
“Tenant
demand for new space is trending at the long-run average, with some
pockets of strong interest from the likes of the TMT sector, while the
supply of new space is low,” he said.
With
the Olympics set to arrive in London this summer, the focus will be on
the English capital as one of the world’s prime property investment
hubs.
Author:
Carlo Pandian is a freelance writer and blogs for UK Business Property
on real estate, investments and design. He loves reading great
architects biographies and speaking at conferences about how design can
help making our life better.
