Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Commercial Property Use setting UK Commercial Property
Net lending to property has a steady start to the year Net lending to property had a steady start to 2025, with the total of £917mn in January down from £1.28bn in December 2024, but close to the average seen over 2024. The rise in net lending was …
3rd March 2025
Industrial property has been a clear winner over the past five years, with double-digit annual rental growth far outpacing expectations. However, as we predicted early on, supply has been responsive and, combined with a normalisation in demand, those …
25th February 2025
Hotels have seen a considerable turnaround in the past five years given the near-existential threat that the pandemic posed to the sector. Having bottomed last year, we expect values will grow in the coming years, with a pick-up in consumer spending …
20th February 2025
Overview – The economic outlook has worsened over the past couple of months, which supports our call that the recovery in commercial property will be modest by past standards. Admittedly, interest rates are set to fall back. But with the spread over gilts …
19th February 2025
The decision by the US and Russia to “lay the groundwork” to end the war in Ukraine marks a potentially significant turning point after three years of conflict. Negotiations will take time and the macroeconomic implications will depend on the features of …
18th February 2025
With return-to-office policies again hitting the headlines in the last week we are highlighting our recent notes on the outlook for remote work across the markets we forecast. In the first two of those, we pushed back against the idea that in the next few …
17th February 2025
Property valuations worsened in Q4 as alternative asset yields rose and property yields essentially held steady. With the 10-year gilt yield now falling back, and property yields set to for a period of stability, we expect property valuations will …
13th February 2025
Five years ago, the retail sector was staring at the abyss, as lockdowns and virus-related restrictions worsened what was already a crisis in demand. The turnaround since has been dramatic. But while the sector has now re-priced and is set to perform …
12th February 2025
The Central London office pipeline looks set to go from feast to famine over the next few years, with a sharp drop in planned completions from 2027. But we doubt new office supply will run dry. Constraints on development are easing and demand for new, …
10th February 2025
Five years on and the pandemic is continuing to impact real estate, influencing how we work, where we live and how we spend. But while some structural shifts are now better understood, there’s widespread uncertainty about how they are likely to develop …
9th May 2025
A stabilisation in capital values and decline in interest rates have sparked optimism that we may be past the worst of the real estate debt refinancing challenge. That indeed looks to be the case in the UK. However, euro-zone banks are still pulling back …
6th February 2025
Rise in interest rates puts a dampener on construction activity The headline CIPS construction PMI dropped to 48.1 in January, from 53.3 in December, indicating the first contraction in activity since February 2024. The decline in the headline balance …
This is the first in a series of pieces that revisit our pandemic-era forecasts about the future of global real estate markets and cities and explore how they will evolve in the coming years. This dedicated page highlights key analysis from our earlier …
5th February 2025
Concerns about the impact of the Budget, coupled with higher interest rates, led to a moderation in commercial property demand according to the Q4 RICS commercial survey. Capital value expectations also declined and a dip in investment enquiries points to …
30th January 2025
Net lending to property records strongest year since 2008 Net lending to property had a strong end to 2024, with the total of £1.28bn in December the highest since September. At £11.5bn for the year, commercial property net lending had its strongest year …
The latest investment figures suggest an upturn in industrial activity after a long slump. But given both stretched valuations and continued economic uncertainty, it may be too early to rule out a relapse in the next couple of quarters, while any recovery …
29th January 2025
Renewed rises in market interest rates across the UK, US and euro-zone have prompted questions about the implications for real estate. For now, we think the upside risk to property yields is small. We still anticipate government bond yields to fall back …
23rd January 2025
The rise in gilt yields since the start of the year will weigh on transactions and put upward pressure on property yields over the next couple of months. But we still think risk-free interest rates will fall back later this year, which will help property …
22nd January 2025
With commercial property capital values stabilising and credit conditions easing, the stage was set for a decent recovery in investment this year. However, the recent rise in gilt yields has cast a shadow over the outlook and a fall in UK REIT pricing …
17th January 2025
The Shape of the Fractured World in 2025 The share of the fracturing global economy that is accounted for by China and its geopolitical allies contracted in 2024, leaving it under a third the size of the US bloc at the start of 2025. This fall was in part …
At first glance the 24% y/y drop in sponsored study visas in Q3 2024 spells bad news for PBSA rents. But the cause of that drop - new rules banning international students from bringing dependents - means the decline will have been concentrated in students …
14th January 2025
2024 likely marked the bottom in all-property values in Europe, but we expect further falls in the US in 2025. That said, US performance should improve further ahead, outpacing the euro-zone over the 2025-29 period. By sector, stronger rental growth will …
9th January 2025
Compared to our end-2023 forecasts, property yields look set to end 2024 a bit higher than we anticipated and rental growth stronger. Overall, that means our call for all-property total returns of just over 6% in 2024 will prove correct. Our non-consensus …
8th January 2025
Construction activity continues to expand despite drag from housing The headline CIPS construction PMI eased to a six-month low of 53.3 in December, from 55.2 in November, although that indicates construction activity is still expanding. The decline in …
7th January 2025
The fiscal loosening announced in October’s Budget means inflation and gilt yields are now set to be higher than previously expected over the next few years. That will limit yield compression, and the commercial property recovery will therefore be weak by …
19th December 2024
The incoming Trump administration is threatening to put new tariffs on European exports. In our view, given their limited macroeconomic impact, they will not be a game-changer for commercial property. But in some sectors, notably industrial and, within …
18th December 2024
Our forecast that commercial real estate is set for a modest recovery is dependent on our view that a decline in gilt yields will help stabilise property yields. But if interest rates don’t fall back the outlook for returns could be a lot more …
11th December 2024
A vast share of our clients highlighted geopolitics and/or Trump as their biggest blind spots going into 2025 when polled at our recent London roundtables. Meanwhile, a large majority thought that interest rates will be the key driver of returns next …
9th December 2024
Jump in commercial activity supports a rise in the headline balance The headline CIPS construction PMI increased to 55.2 in November, from 54.3 in October, indicating an expansion of construction activity. The rise was entirely driven by the commercial …
5th December 2024
Net lending to property on a firm upward trend Net lending to property totalled £1.16bn in October, marking the third consecutive month of net lending exceeding £1bn. Indeed, at £3.93bn in the three months to October, lending was at its highest since May …
29th November 2024
We held an online session on US import tariffs on 26th November. (See a recording here ). In this Update we answer the questions we were most asked. What are Trump’s motives for threatening tariffs and will he follow through? Trump has spoken about using …
This week we held a series of roundtable discussions with clients in our London office about the outlook for European commercial property. This Update outlines our thoughts on some of the most interesting questions raised, covering the likely winners in …
28th November 2024
The latest IPF Consensus Survey was broadly unchanged from the previous forecast round. Total returns at the all-property level are forecast to be 7.7% p.a. over 2024-28, up from 7.6% p.a. previously. That contrasts to downward revisions in our forecasts, …
27th November 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s first threatened tariffs since the election are designed to extract concessions on drug trafficking and illegal border crossings, which means it may be possible for the countries targeted – Canada, Mexico and China – to head …
26th November 2024
We discussed the global impact of higher tariffs in a Drop-In on Tuesday, 26th November. Click here to watch the 20-minute online briefing. In this Focus, we construct a framework to explore the channels through which an import tariff works, which we use …
25th November 2024
Overview – The fiscal loosening announced in October’s Budget means inflation and gilt yields are now set to be higher than previously expected over the next few years. And with the spread of gilt yields over property yields currently narrow, that implies …
22nd November 2024
It is increasingly clear to us that pricing in all three regions we forecast has bottomed, even if appraisals are yet to reflect that in mainland Europe and the US. And although we expect recent events – the election of Donald Trump and the recent UK …
14th November 2024
This dashboard shows our latest UK commercial property forecasts. If you have subscriber access to the data underlying this redesigned dashboard, you can download it via the menu options in the top right of each chart or table. If you would like …
UK Commercial Property Valuation Monitor (Q3 24) …
7th November 2024
Contraction in housing activity drags headline construction PMI down After a strong September the headline CIPS construction PMI dropped back to 54.3 in October, although that still points to an expansion of construction activity. A rebound in long-term …
6th November 2024
We doubt the sell-off in gilts following the Budget will gather momentum and cause another step down in commercial property values. However, given the current narrow spread between risk-free interest rates and property yields, the latter are likely to …
31st October 2024
The Q3 RICS commercial survey painted a somewhat mixed picture of the market. There was a slight improvement in investment and capital value expectations, but rental expectations were revised down. That highlights that the road to recovery for commercial …
Residential’s growing share of investor portfolios speaks to the buzz around its potential to keep providing outsized returns. But will residential continue to deliver? Which economies and markets offer the best opportunities? And what could go wrong with …
30th October 2024
Net lending to property sees another decent rise Net lending to property totalled £1.33bn in September, essentially unchanged from the previous month. Lending to standing assets was responsible for all of that total, with net lending to development seeing …
29th October 2024
Capital values are now recovering and, notwithstanding a recent rise in interest rates, will continue to do so. However, with not much prospect for yield compression the recovery will be weak by past standards. Thanks to stronger rental growth the …
24th October 2024
The strong recovery in property equities prices across the UK, euro-zone and US implies larger rises in commercial property capital values by the end of the year than we are currently forecasting. However, property equities have been boosted by the …
22nd October 2024
Surveys of banks, developers and surveyors all point to a recovery in capital values over the next few months. As does the behaviour of investors. The strength of that recovery is more uncertain, with the indicators pointing to annual price growth …
16th October 2024
In contrast to offices, there is less evidence of a ‘flight to quality’ in the overall retail sector. Shopping centres are the exception, where the spread between both prime and non-prime yields, and floorspace and financial vacancy rates has widened in …
10th October 2024
On the back of client questions, we have put together this short primer on the potential impact of a second Trump term on commercial real estate markets, both in the US and elsewhere. The key takeaway is that if Trump were to follow through on his mooted …
7th October 2024
Construction activity rebounds to 2½ year high The headline CIPS construction PMI rebounded to a 2½ year high of 57.2 in September as the prospect of lower interest rates, rising capital values and a government committed to boosting home construction …
4th October 2024
