Thames Valley Commercial Property Lacking Confidence

By now the expectation would be for a faster pace of improvement in the Thames Valley because of its high level of occupiers in the high technology sector. But in fact the stronger UK economy has only produced a muted recovery. The missing ingredient seems to be confidence in the state of the UK economy and here it is reasonable to put the new coalition government in the frame. They have been putting out so many horrendous statements about how much spending will be cut that private companies have held off decisions until the situation is clearer. Decisions about taking new space because of outdated buildings or potential expansion of business have been delayed. That includes purchasing new telecommunications and computer equipment. That said, take up has risen and in the case of Reading, top rents held up. In Bracknell there are plenty of potential deals around.

As far as the economy in the south east is concerned a report from Markit for the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) showed that activity had slowed in August and was even below the UK average for the first time since January. Another negative indicator is that private sector employment fell at a time when input prices are rising. Paul Lovejoy of SEEDA commented: “The latest survey shows that the bounce in business activity and demand seen earlier in the year has not been sustained during the summer. It is encouraging to see that manufacturing is holding up relatively well, what we also need is a stronger recovery in service sectors across the region.” Further evidence underlines the fragile state of the economic recovery, even if some international organisations are forecasting that the UK will have faster growth than most European countries. The CB Richard Ellis index shows that the all property total returns slowed marginally in August to 0.8% bringing the annual figure to 12.3%. CBRE’s David Wyllie said: “This month’s returns confirm the growing mood of reflection among investors.”

The Thames Valley Commercial Property Register

The Thames Valley and Heathrow Commercial Property Register is a leading UK business property publication from Martin Austen Publishing. The aim of the publication is to offer a simple and effective means of finding Offices Space in Thames Valley , Serviced Offices in Thames Valley, Commercial property in the Thames Valley area. You can also find the latest commercial property news for the Thames Valley region.