British Land says that the UK commercial property market has
strengthened, following increasing investment into London and
various regional markets.

Their strong commercial trading is further evidence that the
UK's commercial property sector is on the up following a difficult
few years, falling in line with a recovery in the economy - The
Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) economic output has now
risen at its fastest rate since the financial crisis started in
2007.

Chief executive Chris Grigg said: "We have had a good third
quarter and the business is performing well. Overall, the UK
property market had a strong quarter with London strengthening
further and domestic and international investment spreading out
into the regional markets.

"From an occupational perspective, we saw increased interest in
our office space in London, notably in the City. In retail, the
economic recovery is having a positive impact on confidence and we
continue to benefit from retailers looking to take space in the
best quality locations."

British Land's like-for-like occupancy rate rose 0.3 percentage
points to 97.1 per cent, with the firm letting or renewing 386,000
sq ft of retail space. The FTSE 100 firm has also found a tenant
for the 30th floor of its Leadenhall Building in the City, also
known as "the cheese­grater", which has been leased by Australian

office provider, Servcorp.

The upturn in the commercial property market has seen fund
managers raising their stakes in this market, diversifying equity
portfolios which have seen returns stagnating following a bullish
few years.

According to the Financial Times, discretionary managers from
Charles Stanley, Thomas Miller Investments and Cornelian Asset
Managers have all added to their commercial property assets in the
last few months.

Cornelian have recently put their money into equities exposed to
property, with their chief investment officer, Hector Kilpatrick,
saying that demand for property is currently outstripping supply,
pushing prices up. He also claimed that rental growth is likely to
be sustained above inflation for the next few years.

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