Multilet industrial update

Fisher German and Vine Property Management collectively manage over 7,500 industrial/warehouse units on some 800 estates across the UK.

Over the last two weeks we have gathered data on how many of these units are currently being used, to help us understand more about how the Coronavirus pandemic is impacting the industry. According to our data, 44% of the total number of units currently appear to be in productive use. The remainder are closed for business at present.

There is some interesting variance across the country which we thought we would share:

RegionPercentage of units currently being used
Midlands 41%
North East 50%
North West 51%
Scotland 29%
South East 41%
South Central 46%
South West 46%

 

We are not sure what conclusions to draw from this; are the Scots more diligent social distancers and the northern English not? Are Midlands businesses and those in the South East more able to work from home? It could be that the estates in the Midlands, South East and Scotland are in more densely populated areas, hence the need for more caution.

Rental collection one-month post quarter day is now 72.38% of that demanded, which is encouraging, but the June quarter is concerning us greatly. The prohibition of forfeiture and the use of the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery protocol may well exacerbate a difficult position for owners of multi let estates.

Those who make their living from our sector and those who rely on the income produced have, as usual, been seen to possess unlimited resources. The reality is that much of the money invested comes from ordinary people saving for retirement or a rainy day.

For advice and information about any aspect of commercial property management, our team would be happy to hear from you. Find out more here

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