UK commercial property 'faring better than Europe'

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 21-04-2009

The UK's commercial property market has reacted positively to the economic downturn and stabilised faster than the rest of mainland Europe, it has been claimed.

Michael Rhydderch, head of the cross border capital market team at Cushman & Wakefield, has said that the UK commercial property market has been through the wringer in recent months but has emerged stronger than its European counterparts.

He commented: "The UK corrected first and fastest and if you look at the numbers and break them down, the UK numbers are not good, but they are not disastrous. The continental numbers reflect the fact that the continent has been slower to adjust pricing."

According to figures compiled by Jones Lang LaSalle, investment in European commercial property has fallen dramatically in the last year, down 70 per cent between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009.

However, investment in UK commercial property during the last quarter increased by four per cent to £3.9 billion.