Landlords have room to improve
On the whole, commercial property occupiers in the UK feel that their landlords provide a moderate level of service, but there is plenty of room for improvement. So says the Occupier Satisfaction Survey for 2010, published today by the Property Industry Alliance and CoreNet Global.
Overall, occupiers awarded their landlords an average of 4.9 marks out of 10, with occupiers from the office sector (5.2) most satisfied, followed by retail (5.1) and industrial (4.6) occupiers. The survey, in its fourth year, found that there was again a marked difference between the opinions of small and medium-sized occupiers, whose average rating of their landlords was 4.2, and large occupiers, who gave them a more generous 5.3.
Breaking down the data further shows that a significant proportion of all those surveyed (23.5%) were very dissatisfied with their landlords, giving them only 1-3 out of 10, while just 5.3% awarded their landlords a score of 8-10. Asked about lease negotiations, in terms of the rent review terms and conditions achieved, occupier satisfaction was higher at 5.8 than for any other question asked in the survey. A significant 24.2% also felt that the process had improved over the past year. While this may reflect a shift in market conditions favouring occupiers, it may also indicate that landlords have become more responsive in their approach, the survey results noted.
Landlords scored the weakest marks for their engagement with occupiers on environmental issues, at just 3.5 out of 10. Sustainability issues were considered more important by larger occupiers but a total of 47.9% of all respondents said these factors had become more important to them over the past year. The low score in this area may point to opposing ideas on how to approach green issues.
The Property Industry Alliance includes the British Council for Offices, the British Council of Shopping Centres, the British Property Federation, the Investment Property Forum and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. CoreNet Global’s UK Chapter aims to represent business and public-sector occupiers and to unify the profession of corporate real estate through a multi-disciplinary approach to education, networking, research and communication.
