“Interest rates could have an adverse effect on the market” – WA Barnes LLP comment on the property market in the East Midlands
Following on from our focus on the South East in July, this August NovaLoca are looking at the East Midlands commercial property market. We spoke to Nottinghamshire based Chartered Surveyors WA Barnes LLP about the state of the market in their area.
So how has business been so far this year? “Commercial business for us has been reasonable, but we are not replacing stock as quickly as we are selling or letting.” Lack of stock or predicted lack of stock is something we have noticed many agents and surveyors worrying about for the future and WA Barnes are no exception to this growing trend.
“There has been a good demand for small industrial units from owner occupiers and good demand from tenants”, while on the retail side, “the market has seen a little more interest, even for secondary areas.” This demand appears to be what is driving the fears over future lack of supply.
Despite the demand, WA Barnes has still seen people trying to keep the costs down: “There is a limited demand for larger units unless incentives are offered by way of a rent-free period or reduced rent and on reviews tenants are expecting a reduction in the rent.”
This serves as a reminder that while optimism in the market is increasing, there is still the need for an air of caution going forward. WA Barnes single out one threat to the growing market: “We hope that interest rates do not go up as predicted in November, as we think it would have an adverse effect on the market.”
But what is going to be the main stumbling block for the future? “The challenge we are facing is to try and increase the stock of commercial properties we have for sale or to let for the rest of the year and 2015.”
To view all of WA Barnes properties on NovaLoca, please follow this link.
For more interviews from NovaLoca, go to our news page, or check out our blog, including our look at some of the regeneration projects currently underway in London.
