A flurry of off-market investment deals in the commercial property sector has been fuelled by fears of a tax raid on private investors in the upcoming Budget, according to Worcestershire’s leading business property advisers John Truslove.
Ben Truslove, joint managing director of John Truslove in Redditch, said they had agreed three investment deals in recent weeks that might not otherwise have come to the market.
“A number of our private investment clients are looking to ‘cash out’ now before the Budget and we have the contacts and long standing clients who are looking to buy,” he said.
In Alfreton in Derbyshire, John Truslove have just agreed the sale of a 35,000 sq ft industrial unit having recently agreed a Lease Renewal at £225,000 per annum.
Owned by two private investors, it has been sold off market to an investment fund with an asking price of £3.4 million.
In Warwickshire, a well known pub and restaurant, The Mother Huff Cap, in the village of Great Alne, let on an 18 year lease from December 2021, was quickly sold off-market to a local investor looking to diversify his portfolio.
Over in West Hagley, John Truslove has sold 149 Worcester Road, a two storey retail property in a popular location, for an undisclosed sum equating to a yield of circa 5%.
The ground floor of the 999 sq ft investment property is let as a bridal shop on a three year lease from January 2023 at £9,000 per annum, and the first floor is let as a beauty salon for three years from August 2022 at £5,000 per annum.
Ben Truslove said: “We have investors on tap, many of whom have bought and sold through John Truslove over the past 40 plus years.
“While some are taking the view that now is the time to cash in, whether due to retirement or a wish to diversity their assets, others are taking the long standing view that bricks and mortar always come through in the end as a long term investment.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget will be on Wednesday 30 October and there are fears that a rise in Capital Gains Tax and changes to Inheritance Tax rules are in her spotlight.
