Professional Services

Roche's dedicated team specialise in all aspects of professional work Landlord & Tenant (rent reviews, lease renewals and re-gears), Valuation, Property Management, Expert Witness and Rating throughout the East of England, in respect of shops, offices, factories, warehouses and land, for nationally and regionally based landlords and tenants

Rating advice is provided in respect of the management of empty rates on commercial premises and successful appeals have been made on assessments for clients.

Valuation work is undertaken for major and secondary lending institutions and international, national and local companies, primarily for the purposes of reports which are compliant with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Valuation Standards. Roche have three RICS Registered Valuers, Jackie Crisp, Sam Kingston and Graham Jones.

Management of commercial property is a growing part of the business and Roche in taking over problem premises and turning the management round, especially liaising with tenants in the respective schemes.

Jackie Crisp, the partner who heads up the professional team, has achieved an Advanced Professional Award in Expert Witness Evidence, a Masters level qualification held by no more than 150 surveyors throughout the UK and which is now the only standard recognised by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Strong demand reduces availability of industrial and warehouse units

The industrial and warehouse market in Norwich, and elsewhere in Norfolk, has seen strong demand in the last two years with the availability of larger buildings halving over an 18-month period.

Roche Chartered Surveyors monitor the availability of buildings over 10,000 sq ft in the Norwich area. In September 2015, total availability of such buildings stood at a peak of 393,000 sq ft. By April 2017, the figure had dropped to below 152,000 sq ft. The reduced availability during this time has restricted take-up and therefore a modest increase in availability in the last 6 months, largely a result of re-structuring by a small number of occupiers, has helped to meet market demand.

The underlying trend of reduced availability is causing upward pressure on capital and rental values which will hasten the day when new speculative development is likely to occur. Recent new developments have been restricted to owner-occupiers and starter units. Refurbishment of old sites in established locations meet a ready demand, a prime example being Unit 2 at Burton Road Business Park which was virtually re-built by Harber Properties to create a high-specification 16,760 sq ft that was let to ERIKS, a national engineering services business who relocated from Union Park. This was the largest letting in the first half of the year.

Demand for smaller units of less than 10,000 sq ft has been equally strong with few available unit on the principal estates at Bowthorpe, White Lodge, Sweetbriar and Hellesdon Hall. With most of Norwich's industrial estates being owned by pension funds and other landlords, there is a pent-up demand for freehold units and buildings. Demand for property on the north side of the city has been boosted by the prospects of better accessibility with the imminent opening of the Northern Distributor Road.

With little new development in recent years, availability rates are also low in the main centres throughout the county including King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth and Dereham, with few freehold opportunities in most of the market towns.

The sustained improvement in the market over the last two years bodes well but the availability of sufficient immediate choice for businesses wanting to expand will become a concern if new development does not increase the supply. The provision of new buildings is essential and it must be hoped that economic returns and other factors enable developers to respond accordingly.

James Allen

October 2017

Roche Chartered Surveyors

Professional Services

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Strong demand reduces availability of industrial and warehouse units

Strong demand reduces availability of industrial and warehouse units

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