Comment on the latest RICS UK Commercial Property Monitor

The RICS has recently published its latest quarterly UK Commercial Property Monitor (Q4 2023), whose headline result reads, ‘Occupier and investor demand still subdued although forward looking sentiment improves marginally’.

In responding to the Monitor, Gavin Hynes, Director, Peterborough, reported that his agency team’s experience of the market in the final quarter of last year is broadly in line with that of the UK-wide and regional trends outlined in the RICS monitor.

Commenting on the RICS data, he said, “Our experience in the East Midlands and Eastern region reflects that of the national picture. And it’s hard to disagree with the RICS’ summary of sectors either.

“Investment is, indeed, ‘downbeat’ - barring industrial and the gap between prime and secondary office is still marked. Interestingly, pockets of retail are holding their own in affluent hot-spot towns which for us, regionally, include Bury St Edmunds, Stamford and Lincoln.

“International and domestic political uncertainties did affect the 2023 market and many surveyors are looking only to the second half of this year for a gradual improvement - something on which Eddisons’ Tim Bradford, of our Lincoln office, is quoted in this latest RICS Monitor.”