Happy New Year. My colleague, Alan Knight FRICS, Head of Commercial and Land at Walton and Hipkiss, recently commented that the company are committed to the “Investment in business and positive sentiment in new employment that seems to be growing”.

Having just joined Alan to expand the Commercial and Land Department, I am proof of Walton and Hipkiss commitment to expansion and excited to be part of the growth of the company and naturally I look forward to the New Year and the challenges ahead. The companies’ growth has been further demonstrated with the early December opening of our new Kidderminster office, which has a fabulous position in Oxford Street. After 50 years of absence from the town, it has been amazing to see the terrific response from clients, old and new, and in my current role, the enquiries generated, already, for commercial space.

Although new to Walton and Hipkiss I have been in the property industry since the early 1980’s and have worked in, new homes marketing with the Tarmac Homes Group and Bryant Homes, residential and commercial estate agency, sales and lettings, in the West Midlands, Shropshire, Greater London and the West End of London, and hotel sales on a national basis. I have previously been asked for property comments by the BBC and Sky News, and involved with a TV property market debate with the then Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of their monetary policy, Mervyn King, and a professor of the L.S.E, so it is not perhaps unnatural that when viewing the property market I tend to do so on a wide basis!

Ultimately, supply and demand in the property market, whether it is for residential or commercial property obviously stems from confidence in the economy, which has to be said is uncertain, given the mixed messages of just the last month, admittedly the month for predictions. On one hand Chancellor George Osborne received a great Christmas present from the Centre for Economic and Business Research, which forecast that the UK is said to overtake Japan and Germany in the prosperity stakes but the report also refers to fears of economic instability in the UK as a result of the long awaited referendum on the European Union which could lead to “slower growth”. On the other hand, it is easy to see that other major Western European countries in the EU are losing ground, their economies underperforming badly. Indeed Western Europe is tipped to be the slowest growing region with its share of the global economy falling by 42 per cent over the next 15 years. It could therefore quite reasonably be argued, why would Britain want to ally itself to the EU where many of the countries are bound by a single currency? The Chancellor himself said that “2016 is the year we can get down to work and make the lasting changes Britain so badly needs. Or it will be the year we look back at as the beginning of the decline. Last year was the worst for global growth since the crash, and this year opens with a dangerous cocktail of new threats”.

So, that’s the global view! The most sensible view for our local market is that, as ever, there would appear to be no time like the present to sell when all the indicators are positive. A genuine shortage of instructions across all areas of the market is forcing prices modestly upwards in line with employment levels. According to the Nationwide House Price Index of December 2015 the West Midlands was one of six areas nationally, including London, that saw an increase in prices relative to the 2007 peak of house prices and employment levels. Further north of the West Midlands the trend was actually for a decline, against 2007 peaks, for five areas of the country. Whilst we await the Q4 UK Commercial Property Market Survey from the RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) we do not expect any change from their Q3 2015, announcement that was headed “Rents and capital values expected to rise firmly for at least another year” supported by the statement that, “Supply continues to fall against a robust demand backdrop”.

Walton and Hipkiss LLP are justly proud of our ongoing relationship with Hagley Hall Estates and look forward to being able to report further on the fantastic interest being expressed, by a number of parties, in the land that we have been offering for sale on behalf of Hagley Hall Estates at the Kidderminster Road, Hagley development. The company are also pleased with the response being received further to the marketing of The Old Library, a landmark property on the Stourbridge ring road, on behalf of Corstorphine and Wright Architects. Being offered either as a freehold potential residential development of potentially 23 apartments or offices to let, the easily identifiable property has a prominent and important position. It is also encouraging to see speculative building projects nearing completion and soon to be offered to the market in time for the traditional spring residential market peak, watch out for news! Just this morning, we have received an enquiry for land from a local, expanding, professional firm, they have recently acquired another company and are seeking to build their own bespoke offices in reasonable proximity of the motorway network for visiting clients from London and other commercial centres, admittedly one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but surely this commitment to growth is a sign of brighter weather, when it appears to have been raining for so long! Their commitment is to be applauded and we look forward to assisting them in their search. In closing, our advice would be to jump in, the water is fine! Note to editor: Mark Jones is a Commercial and Land Surveyor at Walton and Hipkiss. He has worked within the property industry for 34 years in residential and commercial sales and lettings roles in the West Midlands and London. Mark works alongside Department Head, Alan Knight, in all commercial agency, land and new homes matters. Walton and Hipkiss have offices in Hagley, Stourbridge and Kidderminster and from these offices cover a broad swathe of the Black Country, Birmingham, and north Worcestershire.