OUTLOOK January
2007
An
e-newsletter covering Industrial, Commercial & Retail Property, in North
Oxfordshire,
North
Gloucestershire, South Northants and South Warwickshire.
Published by BANKIER
SLOAN CHARTERED SURVEYORS.
REGIONAL PROPERTY HELP
LINE: 01869 338866
Acquisitions: Sales: Lettings: Lease Renewals: Rent
Reviews: Planning: Rating: Management
(5)
Please "forward" to any friends or colleagues you think may
be interested and hopefully they will reply directly to us saying "YES PLEASE"
and we'll add them to our register. Our e-mail address is reception@centre-p.co.uk
Happy New Year…and may it be a peaceful and
prosperous twelve months!
Industrial Freehold -
Banbury
We are pleased to be offering for sale freehold an attractive modern industrial unit, with excellent offices on Thorpe Way Industrial Estate at £350,000. This unit consists of 2,400 sq ft on the ground floor and 600 sq ft of excellent offices on the first floor. Details are available via our website at: http://www.centre-p.co.uk/3,000 sq ft industrial premises, Thorpe Way.pdf. Despite what it says online (we are about to correct the error) the alternative to buying is to lease at £22,000 (twenty two thousand pounds) per annum.
Bankier Sloan's ABC Guide to Banbury's
Industrial Estates
We have updated our guide to Banbury's Industrial
Estates. This is available either
in a printed format or is now available FREE on-line at http://www.centre-p.co.uk/ABC
GUIDE-JAN2007neworder.pdf. This
includes detailed maps of all the industrial estates and their occupiers. We hope people will find this both
useful and informative. Please pass
on this link to your friends and colleagues and anyone who deals with premises
in the Banbury area.
The fastest deal of
2007?
Like many, we returned to work on January
2nd. At 9.15am I had a
call from a lady and gentleman who had seen details of a property on our
web-site over Christmas. They
arranged to view at 10.30am, they came to my office at 11.30am, had a cup of
coffee and took away a completed lease with their names inserted, (we wanted
them to take it away to read to make sure they were happy). At 3.00pm the lady came back with a
signed document, we produced an invoice and she produced a quarters rent
(£1,500). If only all deals were done with such efficiency on both
sides!
Retail premises required - central
Abingdon
We have been retained by a client to acquire
a relatively standard size lock-up unit somewhere in Abingdon Town Centre. All propositions will be
considered. My clients are an
established Oxfordshire based company with an excellent track record and are
looking to take on a lease for between 5 and 10 years. Please e-mail details to reception@centre-p.co.uk or post 2 copies to Bankier Sloan,
Centrepoint, Chapel Square, Deddington, Oxon, OX15 0SG for the attention of Ian
Sloan.
Lease Terms - a
warning!
Most clients will ask their retained
surveyors to get involved in negotiating lease terms, something that surveyors
specialising in industrial and commercial property will be very experienced
in. However, some times the
instructions can be misinterpreted when handed on to solicitors, (or the
instructions may not be clear!). I was interested to be brought in to
advise a new client recently where a ten year lease had been granted in 2000
with the tenant having the right to terminate the lease "after 3 years,
subject to giving 3 months written notice". The tenant wrote to our client in August
2005 giving 3 months notice. The landlords rejected the notice on the grounds
that it was invalid…you can guess the rest. The tenant said it was "after 3
years". The landlord had
intended that the break clause could only be exercised "on the 3rd
anniversary"…I wonder how many leases are out there with similar vague break
clauses! The moral of the story is
obvious, make sure everybody fully understands when a break clause can be
exercised and in most cases it seems only sensible that you put in the actual
dates when break notices need to be served by. With leases becoming ever shorter
there will be many more arguments I believe of a similar nature. If for example my client had
granted a 10 year lease with a break clause "on the third anniversary"
when the lease comes to be renewed, can the tenants insist once again in having
a break clause at the end of the 3rd anniversary, i.e. at the end of year 13? If
an actual date is written into the original lease then of course this situation
would not arise.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order
2005…something I am sure all readers of OUTLOOK are fully aware of
!!
It may interest you that I have had two
visits from the Fire Officer in the last month in connection with our own
premises in Deddington. For those
who do not know the office it is an attractive Cotswold stone built property,
modernised inside and sub-divided into a number of offices on both the ground
and first floor. I tell you this
because I have learnt a great deal about the above regulations and am much more
confident as to how to advise my clients on this issue and where to go for
help. The Fire Officers are
planning to inspect all commercial properties in the next year and are hoping
(though not expecting!) to see detailed Fire Risk Assessment
Reports!!
Please let us know if you need any
help. I am sure in the very near
future we will be putting information up on our web site for the benefit of all,
but if you would like to receive any initial guidance or want to talk to us
please do not hesitate to contact our Deddington office on 01869
338866.
Moreton-in-Marsh - Warehouse
Accommodation
We were instructed just before Christmas to
market two adjacent (and currently linked) units on the Fosseway Business
Park. We think these will be ideal
units for local businesses or national companies requiring local
representation. Full details are
available on line at www.centre-p.co.uk. As this is a rare
opportunity to acquire modernised industrial premises in the Cotswolds we would
recommend viewing these to anyone who might have any interest in accommodation
in the locality.
Apollo Office
Park
At last the site is looking tidy…having been
grassed and planted up in the last 2 months. These really are the best new offices in
the region and will provide great accommodation for a variety of office users.
Units range in size from 1,000 sq ft to 6,500 sq ft. For full details please visit http://www.centre-p.co.uk/Apollo
Park, Wroxton.pdf.
Scrap yard - Moreton in
Marsh
Now this might
test all involved! When is a
Brown-Field site not a Brown-Field site?
When it's half an acre of scrap yard with a 150+
metre (well about five hundred foot) frontage to The
Fosseway, less than 800 metres from the centre of Moreton-in-Marsh? We have instructions to sell this
existing scrap yard (Established Use Certificate for various unwelcome uses!).
Asking Price only £120,000. Someone reading Outlook is going to buy this. The
Parish Council I understand would love this to be developed for 2 or 3
houses...the planners however aren't yet so keen. Ask us for plans and details by writing
to reception@centre-p.co.uk, giving us your full postal address, or just drive out and
view the site! As a scrap yard it's
surely not expensive...try getting planning for a scrap yard in the
Cotswolds!
Whilst talking
about scrap yards I have a site coming up between Rugby and Coventry (1.8 acres)
that should appeal to residential developers looking for an exciting project.
E-mail reception@centre-p.co.uk, inserting Rugby Scrap Yard in the "Subject box", and
we'll send you details. As with the above site this is exactly what the
government regard as a Brown Field Site!
Byfield
Workshops
Rural,
inexpensive, secure, B2 industrial premises....established engineering workshops
now being made available for the first time ever as three self contained units
ranging in size from 1,500 sq ft to 3,500 sq ft. Rents based on £4 / sq
ft per annum. If you want details please view our web
site or telephone Ian Sloan on 01869 338866.
BANKIER SLOAN
Edited by Ian B Sloan
FRICS - Monday 8th January 2007.
The longest established Chartered Surveyors in the region dealing exclusively with Industrial, Commercial & Retail Property.
North Oxfordshire, North Gloucestershire, South Northants and South Warwickshire. Deddington 01869 338866 Brackley 01280 700756