Commercial property investors ‘want safe, prime assets’

Posted 17/03/2011

People hoping to invest in commercial property are on the lookout for safe assets in which to place their money.

This is according to Andrew Burrell, partner in research at King Sturge, who said demand for prime properties is rising as Britain emerges from the economic downturn.

However, he explained that there is likely to be a shortage of such assets in the coming months, which could encourage investors to look elsewhere.

“It may be that some of these [distressed properties] are going to go at quite reasonable prices because they are forced sellers in a lot of cases,” the expert commented.

According to the latest figures from the Investment Property Databank in its UK Monthly Index, commercial property in Britain expanded by 0.2 per cent in terms of capital growth in February 2011.

Meanwhile, returns reached 0.7 per cent, with office space performing the best when it came to rentals.