The latest RICS Commercial Property Survey for Q2, 2015, reports strong demand from property investors and occupiers alike, with no sign of waning. At the same time, the supply of available floorspace is falling, as it has been for 9 consecutive quarters, with occupier demand rising for 11 consecutive quarters. As a result, RICS Survey contributors report anticipated rent and price rises, both in the short term and further ahead, with the office and industrial sectors showing greater growth than the retail sector. In the investment sector, the RICS Survey reports increasing demand across all sectors and a lack of supply of investment property on the market. It also reports increasing interest from overseas buyers seeking investment property in the UK.
RICS Survey contributor Andrew Kilpatrick of Kilpatrick & Co. says “The removal of electoral uncertainty has resulted in improved activity in Swindon’s commercial property market. Further vacant office conversations to residential are continuing to reduce town centre office stock and there is a growing shortage of Grade A office space in Swindon. In the town centre, H&M have relocated to a 20,000 sq ft store in The Parade, the largest retail letting for some time”.
