Great expectations

Michael Garvey of commercial property consultants Stupples talks to Estates Review about the unique opportunities of speculative developments

South Buckinghamshire has witnessed a phenomenal amount of new commercial floor space development over the past three years, but this has gone largely unnoticed outside the region as London based commentators focus their attention on the more glamorous neighbouring West London and Thames Valley markets.

Stupples is the largest and most active firm of commercial property consultants in Buckinghamshire (excluding Milton Keynes), with offices in High Wycombe, Amersham and Aylesbury, and is currently handling almost 1,000,000 sq ft of development instructions across more than a dozen schemes. These schemes offer businesses either pure office, pure industrial or a mix of the two in locations such as High Wycombe, Amersham, Aylesbury, Chesham, Little Chalfont, Stokenchurch, Princes Risborough and Wooburn.

Michael Garvey, Director in charge of the High Wycombe Agency Department at Stupples, comments “When I tell people that Stupples is handling almost 1,000,000 sq ft of development they can hardly believe it, especially at a time when speculative development in the more glamorous West London and Thames Valley markets is still in its infancy in the current property cycle.

Much of the development we are handling is aimed at owner/occupiers looking for up to 10,000 sq ft of office or industrial space and the market for this product in Buckinghamshire is very strong at the moment. Buckinghamshire has been identified as a target market for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and there is strong economic activity across a range of business sectors in the county”.

Stupples has the lion’s share of development instructions in Buckinghamshire (excluding Milton Keynes) and has developed a very strong reputation for development consultancy, especially since the company re-branded following a management buy-out three years ago. The firm opened its third office in Amersham very recently and now have an unrivalled coverage in the county.

Historically, the freehold owner/occupier market has been poorly catered for by developers and institutional investors, given that most investment in commercial property is aimed at creating long term income streams for the large financial institutions.

A sharp downturn in tenant demand post-2001 and the low cost of borrowing in 2004 and 2006 encouraged developers to build for the owner/occupier sector. Opportunities to buy commercial floor space pre-2004 were far less prevalent than today and despite rising interest rates, there is still good demand. There is also strong demand from private investors looking to buy empty commercial buildings, much like the buy-to-let residential market, and create commercial investments by identifying suitable tenants. Commercial property has out-performed most other asset classes by some margin since 2000 and at a time when returns in the residential sector are extremely poor, commercial property offers more interesting opportunities.

Most new schemes offer occupiers accommodation of the very highest standard, with developers recognising that even smaller companies require prestigious premises and somewhat like the residential sector, a new commercial building has a far greater level of quality, both internally and taking account of the environment on the development as a whole, than property built 20 or 30 years ago.

When buying a new car, items such as air conditioning, CD players and a host of gadgets are now regarded by purchasers as standard and in the same way occupiers of commercial property expect a certain level of accommodation, much higher than previously.

More information about the schemes that Stupples are currently marketing is available on their website www.stupples.com, and Michael Garvey can be contacted on 01494 446612.