According to property services giant Savills, there was a rise in commercial property development in July this year.
The firm’s Total Commercial Development Activity Index found that the number of commercial property developments taking place in July was up from June, when the number actually fell slightly.
Public sector development continued to fall sharply in response to government austerity measures. As a result, it was the growth within the private commercial property market that drove the increase last month.
The index revealed that 19 per cent of respondents to the firm’s survey reported a rise in activity, resulting in a +0.6 per cent score for July. This is an improvement from the -2.8 per cent score measured in June and is a further signal that the commercial property market, particularly privately funded commercial developments, are on the rise.
Head of building consultancy at Savills, Michael Pillow, commented, “A general collapse in expectations for the UK economy on the back of public sector austerity has clearly washed over into the development market. We expect to see further caution about the future until the full details of the spending review are announced in October,” he added.