propertytalk Live!

Average lease lengths fell to their lowest ever recorded levels this year, falling by more than 10 months to just five years in 2010.

An independent analysis of 91,000 tenancies published shows that small businesses are increasingly signing shorter deals, with 81% on leases of five years or fewer and therefore unlikely to face a rent review. By comparison just over 3% of small businesses have a lease of over 10 years.

A small business support group is warning that inaccurate property valuations are preventing many smaller firms from accessing affordable bank lending.

The Forum of Private Business believes that banks are often under-valuing properties when considering them as security for business loans.

The number of financial advisers expecting commercial property prices to fall has increased significantly since the start of 2010.

Research carried out in July 2010 on behalf of Reita, the education and awareness campaign for quoted property and REITs, shows that 24% of 269 independent financial advisers (IFAs) surveyed believe that prices will fall, compared with only 6% in January 2010.

Minister for Communications, Ed Vaizey welcomed new guidance from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) on business rates for broadband networks.

Following discussion with the industry, the VOA has issued revised guidance on how it values fibre optic networks.  VOA has made it clear that it is committed to working with broadband providers to ensure the fair and accurate rating of this emerging market.

Luxury goods retailers have emerged as the most active and expansive retail sector, responsible for more than 23% of new store openings during the past year, according to the new edition of How Global Is The Business of Retail? by real estate adviser CB Richard Ellis.

CBRE’s annual survey mapped the global footprint of 294 of the world’s top retailers across 69 countries, exploring the globalisation of the retail industry at national and city levels and highlighting differences between sectors and regions, thereby identifying trends in the patterns of global retail expansion.

Corner shops could get protected status like they do in France under new proposals being considered.

This would make it harder for an owner to change the use of a corner shop in an attempt to stave off competition from large supermarkets and keep local shops trading.

CB Richard Ellis is the leading UK advisor for investment deals by acquisitions and by disposals, according to the latest figures from commercial real estate information company CoStar.

For the third consecutive quarter, CBRE topped the disposals table, advising on £1.31billion worth of disposals in the second quarter of 2010, more than double the total of the agent in second place. CBRE also advised on £645.5million worth of acquisitions in the quarter, which was £100million more than the nearest competitor.

Tenant demand fell for first time in four quarters - most notably in London, says RICS.

Demand fell in the commercial property sector with seven percent more chartered surveyors reporting a fall than a rise in tenant demand in the second quarter, down from a positive six percent – the first negative reading since the first quarter of 2009. 

A free booklet to help retailers make significant property cost savings by actively engaging with their landlords has been launched today (Monday) by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The Property Management Checklist outlines simple steps every retailer should take to ensure they are receiving value for money for the property services they pay for. Areas of advice covered are rent, service charges and energy-use.

Pub company insolvencies are down a third from the peak of the recession but fears of further Government spending cuts, potential interest rate rises, and a reduction in discretionary spend could slow recovery – causing a further wave of restructuring and insolvency.

The insolvency rate appears to have peaked in the last quarter of 2009 when 88 pubs businesses failed. The rate of failure has now (Q2 2010) dropped by 32 per cent.