We all know that the Christmas period can be a mad round of festivities and present-buying, so ordering gifts online with delivery within hours sometimes, is a huge bonus. We have also become used to hearing profit warnings from some of the high street giants. It is no surprise therefore that large retail properties within town centres are becoming unappealing to private investors.
Figures from the real estate investment data provider, MSCI, reveal there’s been a fall in shopping centre property values of 7.9% since 2015, that’s nearly £4.5 billion.
However, the appeal hasn’t been lost by all, with local councils now snapping up commercial property in a bid to roll with the changes through urban regeneration. The rationale is that by regenerating town centres, the market can once again drive up interest in town centre property investment which should in turn, positively affect income-generation.
By using private contractors and running with market conditions and shopping habits, local councils are looking to regenerate town centres by reducing retail space, but investing heavily in residential and leisure development. Clearly, large-scale redevelopment like this can take many years to come to fruition and longer still to accommodate modern living habits, but it is hoped that what could have been redundant larger retail spaces will once again, be appealing to private investors.
If you have any queries relating to buying, selling or creatively dealing in commercial property and the planning aspects associated with regeneration, please do speak to the Commercial Property team here at Fisher Jones Greenwood on 01206 700113 or email [email protected].