Recently in Investment Category

George Osborne opened up his piggy bank this lunchtime. Heaving the national level stuff to one side here's what Osborne's budget will mean for the regions:

While others are busy swimming downstream, bunkering down in the south east of the country Development Securities seems to be buying in the regions.

With the Irish government today appearing to do a u-turn on upward only rent reviews the industry is back to square one. CBRE Ireland has called on Minister Alan Shatter to confirm its plans. Marie Hunt is Executive Director at CBRE Ireland's Research and Consultancy is asking for clarity now.

"An entire year has been wasted. Investments have been lost while the Government has deliberated on upward only rent reviews.

It is incumbent on the Minister to advise sooner rather than later on whether this legislation is going ahead and if so to give some timelines on its likely implementation. This is the single biggest issue being speculated on in the commercial property sector in Ireland since the beginning of 2011

Having promised on numerous occasions in recent months that the publication of the legislation was 'imminent' , there have been a number of leaks in recent days suggesting that the Government may be about to do a U-turn and not introduce this legislation at all. For this reason, CBRE are now calling on the Minister to confirm or deny if this is indeed the case.

Interesting piece in the Irish Times this morning, and yet another twist in the abolition of upward only rent review's saga. It seems that tenants will be given the right to to seek a rent review with their landlords and that the ever unpopular sunset clause will make an appearance in legislation, which is something that we've talked about on EGi a few weeks ago . 

There's further evidence of the much talked about North-South divide in the market, in this morning's results.

Both Segro and UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) reported today and both talked about a market sliced and diced with weaker performances in the regional markets boosted by a strong London.

Segro's interims pointed to valuation declines in its regional portfolio, highlighting Birmingham and Manchester in particular. By contrast it talked about positive performances in South East England - plus France, Germany and Poland.

It is kind of funny then that its two strongest performing assets were in Kings Norton Business Centre, Birmingham where it completed eight new lettings and Westbrook Park, Trafford Park, Manchester where it said a "modest refurbishment" was delivering. Going forward, it said that London and the South remain the strongest areas for occupier demand in the UK with conditions continuining to be difficult in the Midlands and the north of the country.

This might be relatively easy for Segro to admit as 92% of its holdings are in London and the south east but it has recently signed the UK's largest logistics deal in South Yorkshire. The Segro results for the half year to 30th June are covered in full on EGi (paywall) and the raw numbers are here.

UKCPT's results only cemented that London-centric outlook. UKCPT's half year results are covered in full on EGi (paywall).

Who to believe? There's been a smattering of stories over the last few days looking at how well the property market is faring up and down the country.

Yesterday Jones Lang LaSalle came out and said investors had shifted their focus to regional assets (EGi subscribers can read the story here.)

Today the RICS reports that the gap between London's market and the regional markets is widening with the capital way out in front. It's a view that is largely substantiated in this coming Saturday's magazine where we've measured each of the regional markets one by one analysing how they've performed in the first half of the year. It shows that, outside London, things are a little dire, especially in retail (a link to the feature and digital edition will be posted here after the weekend).

So why are more investors putting their cash outside the capital? Maybe they're hoping to bag a bargain, or maybe they think the market is somewhere near the bottom.

There's something to be said for buying into a recovering market and if you can invest when its within 10% of the bottom then you're on to a winner. However, judging that isn't easy and plenty were saying the turning point would happen last year, or even the year before.

Retail
Analysis of market conditions and future trends
Contact: Liz Morrell, freelance writer, 01454 415 509, lizmorrell@drdatamail.co.uk

Occupiers
Analysis of occupier trends
Contact: David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896, dthame@clara.co.uk

Development
Analysis of market conditions and future trends
Contact: James Buckley, senior reporter, 020 7911 1810, james.buckley@estatesgazette.com

Investment
Analysis of market conditions and future trends
Contact: David Thame, freelance writer, 01544 262 896, dthame@clara.co.uk

Market in numbers
Please contact regional editor stacey.meadwell@estatesgazette.com if you think you can supply up to date City and Docklands market stats and predictions.



 

 

Two sets of key city figures emerged today. CB Richard Ellis released numbers for both the Manchester and Leeds offices market giving us the first glimpse at just how the regional market is faring.

In the North West, take up is lauded, up from a year ago with CBRE going as far as to says it expects 2010 to be a record year. Click on the continue reading link below to see both cities' numbers. 

But some in the local marketplace are now privately whispering that they think deals such as the Co-Op HQ deal have totally skewed take up figures, and are painting a far rosier picture than the reality of it all. It's worth noting that supply is also very high and is continuing to rise although most of this is second hand space.

However, not even a very quick cursory look at Leeds' numbers can provide any comfort. A total of nearly 144, 000 sq ft was signed for, down on the same period last year and vastly down on the last half of 2009. Deal sizes have shrunk with only two deals over the 10, 000 sq ft and with high profile developments such as The Mint and Latitude still empty many developers must be privately nervous.Indeed, it was a drop in secondhand space that led to the drop in supply. 

As such, it was an interesting day for MEPC to announce it had submitted plans for the next phase of Wellington Place.

In both cities the outlook is marred by the prospect of space returning to the market. In Manchester the demise of Halliwell's could mean a return of 3 Hardman Square to the market, and in Leeds the businessdesk.com is reporting that Eversheds is looking to release space at Bridgewater Place (pictured).

Both, releases are keen to highlight investment. Manchester's figures have risen substantially and are barely recognisable from a year ago (click on the continue reading link below to see both cities' numbers). So too for Leeds which saw its investment market up by a third.

We'll be looking at both markets in detail in the magazine over the coming months, trying to guage where it all might be by quarter three.

Khalid Affara, the developer who plans to build London's tallest tower, has a reputation as a man of mystery. The Yemen-born managing director of Arab Investments is notoriously camera-shy and there are virtually no images of him in the public realm.

But when I met him this morning I found him relaxed, chatty, straight-speaking and very enthusiastic about his pet project; The Pinnacle. Aged in his early forties, casually dressed and softly-spoken, Affara came across as a man who is quietly determined to prove to the doubters that the Pinnacle will be built out by 2013.