South East: Lloyds TSB survey reveals property SMEs intention to invest in 2013
Property businesses in the South East are maintaining a bullish approach towards investment opportunities, with a third (32%) reporting an intention to increase their financial investments over the next three to six months, according to a survey by Lloyds TSB Commercial.Whilst an intention to invest is positive news in an otherwise flat property market, overall the latest ‘Property Matters’ report found that small to medium sized property businesses in the South East are continuing to face challenges across the sector, including a lack of confidence around issues such as local planning policy, which continue to impact on appetite to invest.
Businesses in the South East reported a reduction from +9.2 to -2.2 in confidence in the region. This is in stark contrast to the London property sector, where businesses reported an increase in overall market confidence to +15.
The report revealed that 63% of all small and medium sized property businesses in the South East expect activity in the UK property market to remain static, in line with 64% of SMEs nationally.
Residential lettings are set to remain strong, with 45% of South East SMEs predicting that the market will prosper over the coming three to six months, the same as the national figure. Of these businesses 59% of the region’s residential property businesses said they were expecting to see strong performance in residential lettings, compared to 40% of commercial operators.
More emphasis is also set to be placed on house build opportunities, with 40% of commercial businesses in the South East planning to focus on this area of the market, compared to a third (31%) of all SMEs nationally.
Attitudes and confidence towards property portfolios in the region remained largely positive, with nearly a quarter (23%) said that expected to see an improvement in activity. This is an encouraging sign and bodes well for future growth prospects over the next 12 months. Although, it is notable that no area of the country compares with London prospects, which saw a +27 point increase in confidence, largely on account of the number of cash rich, foreign investors being attracted to the capital.
Andrew Woodward, relationship manager for Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: “It continues to be a challenging time for those operating in the property sector in the South East. It is welcome news that nearly a quarter of SMEs in the region plan to increase their financial commitment over the next three to six months. The commercial sector and operators in residential also revealed an intention to invest for the future.
“SMEs continue to cite the challenging UK economy and local planning policy issues as influencing their decisions to invest. We continue to work closely with our customers and have a team of dedicated property managers focused on supporting and advising businesses operating in the residential and commercial sectors.
“The ‘Lloyds Funding for Lending’ initiative aims to foster an environment where businesses can invest for future growth, whilst taking advantage of low cost borrowing. This will help businesses across a broad spectrum of industries, including those operating in the property market.”
‘Property Matters’ is based on interviews with financial decision makers in a range of property businesses in the UK, comparing confidence amongst those operating in residential, commercial and major businesses.
Property Matters is available to download from here
