LETTINGSnews
CORPORATE LETS
Corporate lettings recover
With rental budgets rising by 7 per cent since the end of 2010, the corporate lettings market is improving –
indicating a recovery in London’s economy, according to research by estate agency Marsh & Parsons. After the recession set in, companies’ appetites to spend heavily on high-end prime property to lure staff to relocate to London ‘fell off a cliff’. In the past 12 months, this trend has reversed. In the first quarter of the year, there were 10 per cent more searches from relocation agents seeking to find homes for prime staff than a year ago – a 16 per cent increase on Q1 2009. Peter Rollings, CEO of Marsh &
Parsons told PROPERTYdrum, “London’s economy is continuing to bounce back and this is reflected in the surge of business we are doing with City firms and their intermediaries.” As more companies commit
greater resources to finding and renting prime rental properties to attract and relocate senior staff to London, the average budget for a mid market corporate let is rising. By the end of Q1 2011, it has risen to £747 per week – 14 per cent higher than a year ago. If the corporate lettings market shows the same seasonal growth as it has done in the past two years, average rents are likely to hit £925 per week by the end of Q2 2011. The most pronounced surge has been in searches for high-end properties with a rents over £2,000 per week – three times the number of searches than a year ago. Peter concluded, “The wider
London rental market has been heating up for some time – but even this is being outpaced by the resurgence in demand for corporate rentals. The growing appetite from City firms for top of the range properties is being contrasted to the slow and steady supply of prime properties entering the market – forcing rents up. Top of the tree bankers are still being drawn to areas like Kensington and Notting Hill to enjoy the kudos of living in such an exclusive postcode – and it’s costing more.”
SOCIAL HOUSING
‘Funky’ for the professionals
A stunning new landmark has taken shape in an ‘up-and- coming’ corner of Greenwich. International House, Woolwich, demonstrates that social housing projects are not incompatible with funky urban design. Built with the aim of helping young professionals into home ownership, via rent to newbuild homebuy tenure, the £16.2 million project incorporates 116 apartments commissioned by social housing group LHA-ASRA. The ambitious development, which has brought great visual impact to Brookhill Road, has been completed to the highest of ‘green’ standards, a factor which helped secure financial backing. The prestige project overlooks a
park which will host some Olympic equestrian events. William Cornall, LHA-ASRA’s director of development and regeneration said, “From drawing board to completion the development has taken four years. International House has been built on the site of an old student hostel, which was demolished to make way for the magnificent new complex we see today.”
FURNISHING Today’s tenants want more
The trend for high end rental property is leading to a shift from plain and functional interiors to
design led styles, according to specialist supplier of furniture, David Phillips. Whilst a neutral colour
palette and functional furniture have traditionally been at the forefront of interior design for the rental market, an increasingly discerning customer base is driving the need for more
affluent, innovative and creative approaches to design. Nicholas Gill, Chairman,
David Phillips says, “Tenants are increasingly driven by the lifestyle that they perceive a property can offer. How a property is dressed has increased to such a level in importance that it can make or break a deal. “The rental market is
currently driven by people who would have previously been property owners and they are looking for the same standards in furnishings that they would choose for themselves.
Property investors need to really be thinking about who their target tenants are and fitting out their properties to meet them, rather than taking the ‘neutral for everyone’ approach.” The impact of the new trend and drive towards providing a full lifestyle approach to house buying and rental has resulted in a 65 per cent rise in enquires for David Phillips’ design led services. The company is one of the largest in the UK specialising in the provision of furniture to professional property owners, developers and managers and delivers around 30 tonnes of furnishings every day. It has worked on projects such as the Pan Peninsula at Canary Wharf, Bridges Wharf (Battersea), Highbury Stadium, Media City (Manchester) and Strata in Elephant & Castle.
PROPERTYdrum AUGUST 2011 61
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