Glasgow property investor upbeat on valuations despite pandemic blow

The Templeton On The Green building in Glasgow which provides office space is among the assets.

Releasing a trading update, the firm said property valuation and rent collection have held up well against the sector average. Its portfolio was valued at £742.3 million at the end of June.

Adjusting for property disposals earlier in the year, the like-for-like valuation was down just 3.7 per cent compared with the end of 2019. Over the same period, UK commercial property capital values fell by almost 7 per cent.

The group said rent collection also remained strong, with first-quarter collection now standing at 98 per cent. Rent collection for the second quarter has increased steadily, it added, and now stands at 93 per cent (with 84 per cent already paid, 4 per cent on monthly collection and 5 per cent on agreed payment plans).

In recent weeks, the company has also signed six new lease agreements providing total headline rent in excess of £1.1 million.

Stephen Inglis, chief executive of London & Scottish, said: “Our highly diversified portfolio of 151 properties continues to demonstrate its resilience.

“Furthermore, our strong pipeline of new lease agreements indicates that demand for core office and industrial properties is currently outstripping supply.

“We are also seeing evidence of major organisations moving to a hub-and-spoke model, with a large city centre presence supported by smaller regional offices. We expect this trend to increase demand for regional office space.

“We are increasingly confident that valuations will improve in the longer term as we return to a more normal investment environment.”

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