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Swindon and the South West Looking to Build on Positive Industry Sentiment

Posted on 4 September, 2011 by MOVEHUT

Commercial property in Swindon and the South West has ‘performed better than many parts of the UK’, with demand ‘remaining positive’, according to research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The RICS Commercial Market Survey seeks to gauge opinions from real estate organisations throughout the UK. The 2011 second quarter edition covers April to June and in it a RICS spokesperson describes the South West commercial property market as ‘starkly contrasting’ with the London market. The capital is the only region where respondents anticipated positive rental income while elsewhere rental value expectations are said to ‘remain negative at the all property level, albeit only moderately’.

In the South West, the ‘moderate’ pace of increase in occupier demand has been found to mirror that of commercial property availability. A rise in the number of incentive packages offered by landlords to prospective occupiers was recorded. Overall, 7 per cent of those surveyed reported a rise rather than a fall in available floor space.

Commercial property in Swindon is the source of much movement.

• Construction of a 796,000 sq ft B&Q warehouse, set for completion in July 2011, was completed ahead of schedule.
• BHS has recently joined Topshop and River Island in opening an outlet at The Parade, a shopping centre in Swindon town centre.
• In May, a site said to be one of the most ‘high profile’ examples of commercial property in Swindon was bought by the Dick Lovett Group for £2.7m. It had remained empty for a number of years after being vacated by mobile phone company Motorola.
• Great Western is another Swindon area earmarked for development. The National Trust headquarters and the National Monuments Record Office have set up in the area and will be joined by a fully refurbished Churchward House. The £1.4m Grade II listed building has now fully let its 3,805 sq ft ground floor and the 4,405 sq ft first floor office space.

The RICS sent out questionnaires to real estate organisations in June 2011. Respondents were asked to compare conditions over the latest three months with the previous three months. Responses were received from 262 surveyors and other commercial property professionals. These were amalgamated across three commercial property classifications: offices, retail and industrial.

At national level, retail units of commercial property are continuing ‘to edge up’ and office space availability increased fastest in the North. Looking at individual sectors, the survey found office and retail property to be ‘marginally’ more in demand than industrial.

The results build on the first quarter’s analysis, when 20 per cent more respondents reported an increase rather than a decline in commercial property demand. In Swindon, a rise in occupier demand was witnessed ‘across all sectors of the market’. Waiting for deals to be completed meant an air of ‘cautious optimism’ hung over the South West market ‘in anticipation of improved market conditions and future demand’.

With the second quarter complete, commercial property eyes will be looking to Swindon and the South West to continue the improvement heading into quarter three.

 

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