Office market boosts commercial property firm - commercial mortgages

16 July 2007

A strong London office rental market has been the driving factor in a strong first quarter report from real estate investment trust (REIT) Land Securities, the firm has announced.

The first quarter of 2007 alone saw the firm place 60,500 square metres worth of property into solicitors'' hands. In 2006/07 as a whole the firm let 60,700 square feet.

A shortage of space is making London increasingly attractive to those with commercial mortgages as companies fight for prime locations, experts have recently advised.

"The first quarter has seen extremely high levels of activity'' revealed Francis Salway, chief executive officer at Land Securities.
The firm''s property disposals yielded 4.1 per cent on average, totalling £485 million for the first quarter, the company noted in a statement.

Last week nonexecutive chairman Paul Myners doubled his stake in the firm, bringing his total stake to 20,000 shares. In its role as a REIT, Land Securities must hand out 90 per cent of its income to investors.