West Mids trails in investment activity league
Commercial property activity in the West Midlands dropped to the lowest level in the UK in the first three months of 2011. That's according to new figures from Birmingham-based property firm Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).
Investment in commercial property in the region in the first quater was £132.4m - less than 10 per cent of the 2010 full-year investment total.
Nearly half of this was industrial property, with the remainder made up of retail (£54.7m) and office space (£17.5m).
LSH's quarterly analysis of the market showed only Wales was as sluggish as the West Midlands, although activity levels fell across the country.
The report attributes the fall to the lack of prime assets and a shortage of funding – in particular bank funding – for the slowdown. Economic activity grew in the first quarter, said LSH, but a shortage of available funding kept a damper on activity.
Ian Kibble, regional director of the Birmingham office of LSH, said: "We have to hope that this resistance to providing funding doesn’t threaten the success of the enterprise zone programme which has to attract investment if it is to succeed.
"The good news is that new funders are entering the market and with the right advice, finance can still be found despite the reluctance of the banks. In addition, industrial property take-up is strong as evidenced by LSH’s leadership of the biggest Midlands industrial deal so far this year in a £60.5m industrial portfolio acquisition."
