The West Midlands’ secondary retail property market remains buoyant despite pressures on businesses and consumers from the cost of living crisis and interest rate rises, according to commercial property consultancy Burley Browne. 

Sales and lettings of secondary retail properties remain remarkably robust, with particularly strong performance being experienced across suburban retail parades and those units with a main road frontage.

David Hemming, director at Sutton Coldfield-headquartered Burley Browne, said: “We are very, very busy with all aspects of retail work and we continue to get strong interest when properties come to the market with units letting extremely quickly. 

“We have not seen an impact on rental levels and we are not having to offer incentives above what we would have seen in previous years.

“Despite the undeniable challenges retailers are facing with the cost of living crisis and other pressures on the economy we haven’t seen any signs of big changes in the market or the appetite for retail accommodation.”

In 2022, Burley Browne saw sales dip slightly on 2021 figures in terms of number of transactions but lettings transactions increased by 10 per cent.

The small drop in sales transactions, compared to 2021, is thought to be partly due to freehold owners and landlords taking stock following the Covid-19 lockdown and the potential impact of Brexit. 

David added: “As we look ahead to the rest of 2023, the signs are very encouraging. There is already a lot of activity, with some sales this year being driven by interest rate changes and owners gearing.

“We are experiencing a huge amount of competing interest in those sales, with interest from a wide variety of potential purchasers. As an example, we’ve just had more than thirty strong offers on a property being sold in the sub £200,000 region.

“There are many challenges out there facing businesses but the demand continues to outstrip supply. The hair and beauty and hot food takeaways markets are very strong while new and emerging businesses are keen to get into the market.”

Pictured: Units at Berkeley House near Sutton Coldfield