The cream of the commercial office industry meet in Manchester this week at a challenging time for the industry. After an encouraging 2010, demand for new space faltered in mid 2011. Further loss of confidence led to some high-profile deferrals at the beginning of the year. The future project pipeline is looking much less healthy. The financial performance of office investment has also deteriorated -led by declining capital values. Furthermore investors in existing property continue to face their own finance challenges. According to recent research by De Montfort University over £100bn of existing debt is secured on property with a loan to value ratio of over 70% - debt that cannot not be refinanced on current market terms, which is likely to be "rolled-over" by the current lender.
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