Press Release Summary: The last few months has seen plenty of negativity across the property market. The buy-to-let industry\'s demise has been foretold time and again, even though surveys by Alliance & Leicester
Press Release Body: The last few months has seen plenty of negativity across the property market. The buy-to-let industry\'s demise has been foretold time and again, even though surveys by Alliance & Leicester, Bradford and Bingley and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents have all shown that the majority of its practitioners regard it as being in good health, not to mention that there are mainly long-term investors looking beyond the current economic turbulence.
Similarly, the residential housing market has faced claims in some quarters that it will see a major crash, despite larger lenders such as Halifax and Nationwide contending that it will actually simply replace years of boom with a period of low or no growth.
For the commercial property sector, however, there may appear to be plenty of justification for taking a highly negative view. Recent surveys have shown a distinct downturn in the sector in recent months, with the latest data, that of Resolution\'s UK Commercial Property Trust, indicating a fall of as much as 7.81 per cent in the market, Citywire reported today.
Yet the market has also had a couple of boosts, which may suggest not all is as apocalyptic and some may imagine. Firstly, there may be evidence of a clear expectation that the bottom of the market, if not already reached, is not far away.
The first comes in the form of the new £1 billion fund which investor Laxey Partners has announced it is putting together this week. Made up partly from funds contributed by partners and topped up by a debt facility from Credit Suisse, the fund is intended to pick up bargains in the market while commercial property share prices are low.
Colin Kingsnorth, the founder of the firm, explained: \"Unlike many people, we don\'t believe the end of the world is nigh for commercial property and there is a great chance to pick up shares. No one seems to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we do.\"
Today, however, it appears that light may be somewhat more visible and seen by more people. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) announced that the bi-annual CBI/GVA Grimley Corporate Real Estate Survey showed that the balance of those companies looking to expand their commercial property portfolios exceeded those planning to reduce it by 21 per cent, a margin of 43 per cent to 22 per cent. Based on research carried out in October and November 2007, this figure was only one per cent less positively balanced than the previous one.
Howard Cooke, a director of GVA Grimley, said: \"This survey does not support the speculation about a crisis in commercial property. Firms are still expecting to expand their property occupation much as they have in recent months.\"
The survey did not provide good news across the board - there was concern among 82 per cent of firms that the changes in the empty relief rate from April may be detrimental - but the picture shows that there is still far more positive thinking in the industry than some might imagine.
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2025
