Monthly Commercial Blog 

Another year finally over and probably not one we would want to live long in our memories. However the commercial property and land markets end the year in a better state than they started. We also saw house sales across the area of Stourbridge and North Worcestershire significantly improved on this time last year. Levels of interest in development land both commercial and residential continues to improve. With the spending reviews now revealed we can look forward with hopefully more confidence as business improvments emerge.

Walton and Hipkiss are seeing good levels of activity now in both office and retail lettings and sales across the town, Hagley and North Worcestershire, with manufacturing output now reported to be increasing along with exports gives a firmer foundation for business growth next year.Hagley Mews at Hagley Hall has seen some considerable take up with 5 new office lettings agreed in the last month alone

We will be facing a very different planning regime in the New Year following the Localism Bill published by Communities secretary Eric Pickles on December 13th, saying it would herald a "ground-breaking shift in power to councils and communities, overturning decades of central government control and starting a new era of people power".

The Department for Communities and Local Government said that the Bill would include reforms to the planning system, including a requirement for town halls to adopt new "neighbourhood plans" if residents vote in favour of them in local referendums.

The Bill will also include a new "community right to build", allowing community organisations to bring forward development without planning permission, providing it has local support through a referendum. The Bill will reveal that the community right to build will apply to urban as well as rural areas, and that projects with the support of only 50 per cent of voters in a referendum will go ahead - the previous limit was 75 per cent

Formal planning applications will not be needed under Localism Bill changes. Local communities will be empowered to approve schemes that comply with neighbourhood
plans without formal planning applications. It will give local areas "flexibility to innovate, be creative, access new resources and control their own futures," the DCLG claimed.

The bill confirms the government’s intention to abolish regional strategies and top-down targets. "This approach alienated people, setting them against development – as witnessed by the number of objections from the public and the fact we now have the lowest levels of peacetime house-building since 1924," says the government.

For core strategies and other development plan documents (DPDs), planning inspectors will no longer be able to impose binding recommendations. Local authorities will still need to show that their plans are sound, but inspectors will only be able to suggest changes.

"Communities should have the freedom to manage their affairs in their own way and be
empowered, not suppressed, by government," said decentralisation minister Greg Clark. "The bill will allow local people to shape and influence the places where they live."

The market for commercial lettings is continuing to be hard but there are deals to be done and the availability of stock is decreasing particularly in industrial and workshop space in the better locations. With the lack of any speculative stock coming through to the market over the last 18 months and even then only possibly the isolated small schemes, offices and industrial, the imbalance in supply and demand is levelling out. Obsolescence in older stock is a major issue and companies now start to look for newer accommodation to meet European law and environment regulations. For the Agent and Developers it’s back to “door knocking” and looking for presales of land and pre-lets – if you have any vacant property its time to get in touch.

So a spring in the step – more bureaucracy but a real local agenda and time to look forward and not back – refreshed hopefully after an inexpensive but enjoyable festive season – lets hope it’s a Prosperous and Happy 2011.
 

Alan K Knight FRICS Head Of Commercial Walton and Hipkiss – Stourbridge   01384 397 797