Commercial Investment Property
Benefits and dangers of investing in commercial property
Property in general has always seemed like a safe bet, with residential property it’s assumed people will always need homes, with Commercial Investment Property maybe the assumption in the past has been people will always need shops?
The High Street has been changing for sometime though, Supermarkets and out of town developments saw a decline in the High Street’s importance starting back in the 1970s which still continues, and if you want to invest in major out of town commercial developments your best bet is to buy shares in the PLCs and Multinationals that tend to own them.
If Supermarkets weren’t having a bad enough effect on the High Street along came the internet, many said the internet would be the death of the High Street but this hasn’t been the case, it’s certainly had an effect though. A lot of people shop around on the high street and buy online, others research online and buy offline, certain store types have barely been effected as services and bespoke products are still offered from high street stores such as Banks, Cobblers and Bakeries, impulse purchases and clothing still sell well from Bricks and Mortar stores as well. So the High Street is far from dead and there are still businesses willing to fill stores just only at the right price, property prices are therefore down and deals are there to be had.
And as for the internet these sites popping up online have to be run from somewhere, there is a demand for warehousing with good transport links from which e-commerce retailers can send goods out from perhaps this is a real area of opportunity for commercial investment property in the future. Offices are less of an opportunity with many towns having plenty of square feet available, again though it’s worth keeping an eye out for bargains.
There’s also investment in sites for development, with less and less green field space getting planning permission brown field sites are in high demand, major developers are looking at smaller and smaller sites but there is still potential for individuals and small developers to buy small brown field sites to either develop or hold on too which especially if in the right location could begin to rise in value.
Many people see the UK commercial investment property market at the moment as being in a bad way, it’s fair to say that there are few opportunities to buy cheap and then sell on at a vast profit in the short term, but there is demand for certain commercial property to rent and looking ahead with land not getting any less scarce in the UK property prices are bound to eventually rise as the economy recovers.
Find out more about investing in commercial property - it's benefits and pifalls - and how despite the state of the economy, you can still invest in your future.
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