EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides information and analysis for the letting and investment market sectors of commercial property in relevance to the wider economy, and details of the processes involved when undertaking property development.
The emphasis is on the practical application of property development, with all of the stages involved in the process, thereby providing a complete overview.
The definition adopted in this text is that property development is ‘a process that involves changing or intensifying the use of land to produce buildings’. The development process involves building activity for commercial use.
Property development is an exciting and occasionally frustrating, increasingly complex activity involving the use of scarce resources.
It is a high-risk activity that often involves large sums of money tied up in the production process, providing a product that is relatively indivisible and illiquid. Furthermore, the performance of the economy at national and at local levels directly influences the process. As the development process is frequently lengthy the assumptions made at the outset may have changed dramatically by completion.
Property development is complex, often taking place over a considerable time frame. The end product is unique, either in terms of its physical characteristics and/or its location. Furthermore, no other process operates under such constant public attention.
INTRODUCTION
The core sectors of commercial property: retail shops, offices and industrial- account for about 80% of the market.
Around half of this is investment property that is, rented to tenants by landlords. The rest is mostly owned by occupiers, mainly private companies, the public sector and non-profit organisations.
A wide range of organisations and individuals invest in commercial property. Pension funds, insurance companies, property companies and property unit trusts account for most of