Commercial Finance Specialists

The capital's property market is going to have a strong 2010, according to a major economic consultancy.

A leading economic research consultancy believes that the London commercial property market is significantly stronger than in previous months.

Growth in the commercial development market and rising office rental expectations have left Capital Economics with a positive outlook for the rest of 2010 in London.

Estate agent Knight Frank's Global Real Estate Markets Report also predicts strong growth in the capital's office rental market, as do the latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

"We are above the consensus in expecting average growth in the City and West End. There are a few forecasters that have gone ahead of us, but we are certainly at the more optimistic end," said Kelvin Davidson, property economist at Capital Economics.

However, rental expectations for property investment firms may be being driven up by a lack of office space available, as the latest figures from NB Real Estate reveal that 1.2 million sq m of commercial property space was lost in the UK during 2008.