Week 12 overview
Completion requirements
About this week
A property agent needs to understand the dynamics of the
particular market in which they operate if the client is to be well
advised.
When analysing the rental value of individual properties we have
to create rental comparison tables. A key aspect of rental
comparison tables is the quality of each comparison being used. It
is common practice to create a hierarchy of rental comparisons in
these tables so that the most relevant comparison is the first
comparison and so on. This week we will consider the ranking or
hierarchy of rental comparisons.
In terms of market analysis, we need to appreciate that each
sector breaks down into a series of subsectors, which may be
distinguished by location and quality. Changes in demand and
supply have a direct effect on rental values and capital values;
the agent must be sensitive to such changes in order to provide
the client with advice leading to a transaction on the most
advantageous terms within an acceptable timeframe.
Access to market knowledge is a fundamental element of the
agent’s role. It is a valuable commodity which can be turned into
substantial fees in some markets. Information from your own
activity, your peer group and other agents, and from published
material such as The Estates Gazette and Property Week all help
to complete your knowledge and ‘colour the picture’.
It may take many years to understand some markets to the
extent that you may be considered to be an expert on the subject
and many agents specialise in very specific market segments in
order to retain that expertise.
By completing the activities this week, you should be able to:
identify market trends (rising markets, falling markets and
new markets);
produce a comparisons table with a hierarchy of
comparisons;
interpret market knowledge, including:
o publications: Estates Gazette and Property Week
o websites: EGi and CoStar
o online mapping: Promap
o market indexes: such as MSCI (formerly IPD) indices
o the agent’s own knowledge.
The activities will help you work towards Learning outcomes 1,
2 and 4, and you will be expected to demonstrate the related
knowledge and skills in your assessment.
Activities for this week
These activities use a range of resources and you will have
opportunities to discuss your ideas with your learning community
of peers and the module team. You will get feedback from within
the activity resources, as well as in the forum threads and Padlet
boards.
The study times in brackets are an indication of the time it may
take you to work through the activity.
Activity 12.1: The dynamics of the property
market
Completion requirements
Introduction and aims
In this activity, you will learn about how the property market
operates.
By completing this activity, you should be able to:
appreciate the importance of identifying market trends;
evaluate the key sources of market knowledge;
access the key online sources of market knowledge.
Explore: The dynamics of the property market
Explore the following websites and locate recent market reports
to appreciate the dynamics of the property market. Identify key
trends in the current real estate market in the UK. For students
involved in international markets look at the research produced
by firms such as JLL (2022) and CBRE (2022) who are active in
your local markets.
Colliers (2022)
Cluttons IM (2023)
Savills (2022)
Share: Commercial property market trends
Share your thoughts on the market trends you have identified in
the UK or internationally on the Week 12 forum thread
'Commercial property market trends'.
The module team will join in the discussion and provide feedback
to the group on this activity in the weekly wrap-up.
Re: Commercial property market trends
by OLIVIA GRESSWELL - Tuesday, 17 June 2025, 20:01
Number of replies: 1
1. UK trend is that the Hybrid/remote working is here to stay
2. AI will continue to grow and therefore impact the market it's predicted a lot of companies
will invest in AI which mean they may not require many employees, impacting the larger
office space market.
3. Predicted growth in the 2025 market
4. Focus has shifted to high quality ESG assets
Re: Commercial property market trends
by JASMINE CHAMBERLAYNE - Thursday, 19 June 2025, 19:12
Number of replies: 0
The market trends identified in the UK are as follows:
Interest Rates
o UK interest rate peaked in 2024 but it is forecast that
there will be modest cuts through 2025 as inflation
eases.
investment and Yields
o Transaction volumes remain sub average but are
showing signs of recovery
o capital values are forecast to grow in 2025 to 4.3%
(Colliers)
Sector performance
o Industrial is outperforming all sectors
o Retail still remains strained with limited movement
o Office market sees a real 'flight to quality' with prime
assets being the most in demand and secondary stock
remaining strained - this is resulting in prime supply
being limited
ESG and hybrid working drivers are still present in
the market and occupiers are looking towards
more sustainable standards
References
CBRE (2022) Home page [online]. Available
at: www.cbre.co.uk/ [accessed 12 December 2022].
Cluttons IM (2023) Home page [online]. Available
at: www.cluttonsim.com/ [accessed 10 March 2023].
Colliers (2022) Home page [online]. Available
at: www.colliers.com/en-gb [accessed 12 December 2022].
Jones Lang LaSalle (2022) Home page [online]. Available
at: www.jll.co.uk/ [accessed 12 December 2022].
Savills (2022) Home page [online]. Available
at: www.savills.co.uk/ [accessed 12 December 2022].
Activity 12.2: Interpreting evidence
Completion requirements
Introduction and aims
In this activity, you will learn about the hierarchy of evidence.
By completing this activity, you should be able to:
define the hierarchy of evidence;
apply appropriate weightings to different types of evidence;
evaluate what is the ‘best’ evidence.
Reflect: What evidence is good evidence?
Surveyors are called upon to interpret evidence virtually every
day of their working lives. What should they be trying to achieve
in assembling this evidence? What type? How much? What is the
‘best’ evidence.
Review: Comparisons table
Review the Example comparisons table which will provide you
with the typical headings and information provided in rental
comparisons tables.
Consider: Evidence for office rent review
Evidence
Consider an office floor of 8,000 sq ft (743.2 sq m) in a multi-
storey office block that has a rent review due in three months’
time. There is considerable evidence in both the block and the
surrounding area due to a high turnover of tenants.
Rank the following evidence in terms of ‘best’ to ‘worst’ where 1
= best and 8 = worst.
The main tasks of this activity are directed towards two main
components:
1) defining the hierarchy of evidence from the perspective of
surveyor. This would involve defining which factor/evidence is
most important and least important placing them in a hierarchical
order. There is also relevant exercise, which I would encourage
you to attempt.
2) applying appropriate weightings for different types of evidence
from the perspective of surveyor. These should be supported by
relevant justifications why higher or lower weighting is used.
There are multiple sources dedicated to hierarchy of evidence or
comparable evidence including RICS publication "Comparable
evidence in real estate valuation" and other publications, for
example by The Property Chronicles.
Check: Office rent review ranking
If you have any questions relating to the justification of the above
ranking post these in the Q&A thread on the Week 12 forum.
Activity 12.3: Assembling information from
sources
Completion requirements
Introduction and aims
In this activity, you will learn about the use of online sources of
information.
By completing this activity, you should be able to:
access online information on property transactions;
evaluate the extent to which this information can be relied
upon;
apply information to a specific scenario.
Investigate: The Estates Gazette (EG)
The Estates Gazette (EG)
Estates Gazette (EG) articles can be accessed via a simple
registration process. See Section 5 of the e-Library for further
information.
Familiarise yourself with the EG website (EG 2022b), and the EG
magazine which is published weekly online (EG 2022a). It is the
premier property magazine.
Pay attention to the deals section and read as widely as you can
each week, including the editorial and comment. Having read the
magazine, you will begin to appreciate the way in which the
market or markets move, both in the medium and longer term.
Property Week
Property Week is an important source of information (Property
Week 2019). It is a leading news magazine in the commercial
property market. Property Week provides readers with the latest
information from the industry – from development opportunities
to investment prospects, professional and legal coverage to
regional surveys, plus all the latest job vacancies.
Take this opportunity to create an account. With free membership
you are allowed to access up to four articles each month.
CoStar
Investigate another source of information, CoStar (CoStar 2022),
which specialises in commercial property.
(You may need to use a browser such as Chrome or Firefox to
access the website.)
Promap
Now visit the Promap website (Promap 2022). Promap is an
important mapping resource used extensively throughout the
property market and you should familiarise yourself with the
services it offers.
Consider: News articles on rising or falling markets
Using the sources you have just investigated, are there any news
articles that cover rising or falling markets? If so, add them to
the Week 12 forum thread 'News articles on rising and falling
markets'.
The module team will join in the discussion and provide feedback
to the group on this activity in the weekly wrap-up.
Apply: Assembling information
Compiling rental evidence can be very challenging. This is due to
a lack of transparency in real estate markets.
Complete research on rental evidence in your local market.
Scenario
You have been asked to advise your clients on the likely rent to
be achieved for a speculative new build warehousing/distribution
estate which has units of between 40,000 (3,716 sq m) and
60,000 sq ft (5,574 sq m) in your local market.
In the ‘Assembling information’ Padlet board provided, post a note
of the suggested rent per sq ft and the information, and its
source, that your recommended rent is based on.
The module team will review your posts and provide feedback on
this activity to the group in the weekly wrap-up.
OLIVIA
student
3 days ago
Based on where I live a lot of suitable comparables were ROA which made
this slightly more challenging. Though form the evidence I did find for
near Peterborough would suggest an estimated value of around £8.00
VICTORIA
student
5 days ago
Slightly disappointed with the low average price psf for my area (Hull)
given reported average of £8.75 in Leeds (which is very close to Hull but
may command higher rent due to better location/connectivity for
distribution). Have creatively adjusted average and sought a variety of
comps. Estimated value £7.68
References
CoStar (2022) ‘CoStar | # 1 Commercial Real Estate Information
Company’ [online]. Available at: www.costar.com/ [accessed 12
December 2022].
EG (2022a) ‘EG Magazine – the UK’s number one magazine for the
real estate week’ [online]. Available at: www.egi.co.uk/eg-
magazine/ [accessed 12 December 2022].
EG (2022b) ‘Welcome to EG | Commercial Property Data, News &
Analysis’ [online]. Available at: www.egi.co.uk/ [accessed 12
December 2022].
Promap (2022) ‘Home | Promap Digital Magazine’ [onilne].
Available at: www.promap.co.uk/ [accessed 12 December 2022].
Property Week (2019) ‘Property News from the Real Estate Market
| Property Week’ [online]. Available
at: www.propertyweek.com/home [accessed 12 December 2022].
