Speculative development has, broadly speaking, stopped. Irrespective of attitudes to market risk and access to development finance, developers cannot make appraisals “economic” in the current environment.

 

This will change. Using our market forecasts for rents, yields and rent-free periods, and expectations for build costs, we argue that commencement in 2011 will offer developers an excellent opportunity to capture market performance “ahead of the pack” – while locking into cyclically low build costs. It remains, though, a strategy for the bold.

 

With a 12 page report it is not possible to capture every nuance of development appraisals.  Every scheme is, of course, unique and if you would like to discuss how this research might influence your strategy, please contact our market experts whose details can be found on the back page.