Land Securities signals upturn in UK commercial property market

Land Securities, one of the UK's leading commercial property companies, has today issued a very interesting and positive note on the state of the UK commercial property market. The company has bounced back from last year's troubles and significant property write-offs and today confirmed profits came in at just over £1 billion against a loss of £4.77 billion last year.

The company has cited a "dramatic turnaround" in the UK commercial property market and with over 110,000 m² of development already underway and a further 400,000 m² in the pipeline it seems that life may finally be returning to normal for the UK commercial property sector. However, on a negative note the company accepts that UK consumer spending and business investment will be very patchy and very volatile in the months and years to come and the return to profitability could be a volatile path.

If nothing else, a return to better times for UK commercial property sector should at least stem the flow of distressed asset sales which have been driving prices lower and lower for some time. More stability in the market should lead to more investment from the UK banking arena which should assist with growth in the future.