The largest commercial property company in the UK, Land Securities, have recently published some much needed positive commercial property news.
From March to June, of this year, the percentage of Land Securities owned commercial property which lies vacant has decreased from 4.2 per cent in March, to 3.9 per cent in June.
The drop in vacant space is in part down to the recent letting of space to retailers such as, Superdry and the White Company, which have taken space in commercial property owned by Land Securities.
A large amount of Land Securities commercial property portfolio is retail space and includes a 50 per cent stake in both Cabot Circus in Bristol and the St David’s centre in Cardiff
The company has been buoyed by the 0.3 per cent decrease in unoccupied space and is already looking to grow its commercial retail portfolio further. Land Securities chief executive Francis Salway said: ‘The outlook for development in London remains attractive and, despite the mixed messages in the retail sector, our leasing activity demonstrates that the stronger retailers are looking to take new space.’
The decision to search for new retail opportunities clearly demonstrates Land Securities faith in the UK commercial property market and flies in the face of the recent announcement from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). RICS reported that improvement in the UK commercial property market during 2011 has been restricted to London and found that new developments for retail and industrial commercial property space ‘continued to fall in the three months to June.’
Mr Salway stated: ‘While the quarter has seen a period of uncertainty in the wider economy, our activities show that our plan continues to deliver opportunities for value creation…We entered the financial year with a clear plan, and the letting and sales activity we have undertaken in the first quarter underpins our confidence in this plan.’
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