Media reports proclaiming the imminent collapse of the Post-Brexit UK commercial property market are way off beam according to specialists at Bruton Knowles.
Paul Matthews from the Bristol office said there were no signs of any slowdown in the commercial sector locally.
He said: “We are not seeing any sign of a downturn in business in the Greater Bristol area. In fact quite the reverse. There is usually a bit of a lull during the summer but we are flat out, especially on valuations.
“There might be an impact on the higher end properties in London and a wider slowdown in corporate real estate activity, but the high-end residential market was overblown in the first place.”
South West Property veteran Paul said the media was giving the impression the economy had stalled Post-Brexit.
“But people are still going to have to work and live. There are still developments coming out of the ground in and around Bristol and commercial real estate remains a strong performing investment.”
Paul said they had heard of cases where people bidding for residential development contracts had used the ‘Brexit gambit’ as an excuse to try and negotiate lower prices.
“Some people may be minded to accept the deal being offered, others may tell them to sling it and wait for the next bidder to come along.
“The fundamental issue is supply and demand – the imbalance is still there. Bristol has a massive undersupply in housing and landowners are going to sit tight through any dip in the knowledge that the underlying strength of the market will pull though.
“Unlike the reaction of the banks and funding institutions during the recent recession, commercial finance is readily available, although the viability of schemes and our valuations are, quite rightly, rigorously examined.”
