Stiles Harold Williams Managing Partner Martin Clark looks back on a fascinating twelve months for the firm and the wider world:
2016 was a memorable year – although one some will want to forget – but as it ends we’re fortunately still in a state of favourable market activity despite some unexpected political outcomes on both sides of the Atlantic.
Amidst these factors, the UK commercial property market is buoyant. How do we know this? Because of our continuous umbilical connection to the market for space – for example via the £16bn of property we manage. Just about any assessment of demand across our sector shows things are far rosier today than many expected when they woke up on the morning of June 24th.
We continue to lease high-profile developments, such as Abstract’s speculative 110,000 sq ft Leonardo building in the Crawley / Gatwick office market – now occupied in its entirety by Virgin Atlantic.
Stiles Harold Williams sell land for a range of vendor types for development – our Development Consultancy team have kept orders for crane suppliers swinging along in 2016 by selling approximately 40 sites across the South East of England. In doing so we significantly contribute to satisfying Local Authority new home targets across our region and beyond.
There is still a strong appetite for retail in prime locations. SHW Retail have let and acquired units for the likes of Domino’s, Timberland, Subway and Pressley’s Jewellers in 2016 and we were the Planning Consultants for landmark retail initiative Boxpark Croydon – a which will improve the environment around East Croydon Station and the new Ruskin Square development for years to come.
2016 saw continuing demand from commercial occupiers seeking out opportunities in the face of dwindling availability, resulting in occupiers bidding rents upwards leading to significant rent review and lease renewal opportunities and more clients seeking our advice on their upcoming lease events.
For example, prime office rents in Croydon now established over £30psf and as much as £10psf for the right warehouse. SHW’s Lease Advisory Team has seen double-digit growth in rents for the properties it has advised on – and scored some notable successes for our clients.
Because of our knowledge of the markets, in most cases no sooner do we secure instructions to sell or let new industrial space than it is snapped up – from brand new (and all too rare) speculative developments like Gatwick 55 to an average-sized shed deep in the provinces.
2016 also saw the release of the new Rateable Value List – which means occupiers are looking again with renewed vigour at methods of correcting wrongly assessed rateable values, something our rating specialists are experts at solving. We are also rolling out our Leasehold Enfranchisement service from London to the Sussex coast, extending leases and collectively acquiring freeholds.
There is little if any sign of owners or occupiers skimping on renovation. For example, our Building Consultancy Division have specified, tendered and are supervising major works in Jermyn Street, transforming a multi-storey building into high-spec office space in the heart of St James’ for a major property company. This is just one of the year’s major projects in 2016 with a contract value of £6m for management roles.
Next year is already looking healthy with a flurry of occupier and investment deals under offer and new schemes coming to completion. A decent volume of commercial property managements are being taken on by the day.
Overall, it looks like there are many reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the opportunities ahead in 2017 for our clients and SHW. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish every SHW client all the best in their New Year endeavours.
