The South East remains the most expensive place to buy commercial property, with Scotland and West Yorkshire being the cheapest areas in the UK for businesses looking to purchase their own office, manufacturing or retail space.
The latest survey by Bionic, based on advertised sales and rental prices across the UK, found four of the five cheapest areas for commercial property sales were in Scotland. Wigtownshire was the cheapest, where the average commercial property is priced at just £85,000. This was followed by Selkirkshire, where the average commercial property costs £118,929, and Berwickshire, at £125,000.
The cheapest English area was West Yorkshire, with the average commercial property costing £129,099.
In contrast the five most expensive regions were all in the South East, with Greater London topping the list. Here the average commercial property currently has a sale price of £1,631,912. The other most expensive areas included Hertfordshire (average £1,120,936), Surrey (£1,109,118), Suffolk (£827,845) and Oxfordshire (£771,785).
Across the UK the average cost of buying a commercial property stands at £560,913 according to Bionic.
The data revealed that even though mortgage rates are increasing, on average it is still cheaper long-term, for businesses to purchase a commercial property. The average commercial mortgage repayment is £1,402 pcm, while the average overall cost to rent a commercial property is currently £3,302 pcm – more than twice as expensive.
However, this was not the case for office spaces, where rentals costs are now slightly cheaper. The average office space costs £2,696 pcm to rent, but the latest 5% mortgage rate has pushed the average mortgage repayment of an office space to £3,076 pcm.
Bionic business comparison expert Les Roberts says: “It’s clear to see from this data that commercial rent prices are continuing to rise. Being tied to a lease is especially risky during economically volatile conditions as many leases increase in line with inflation. Not only does buying give you full control over the property, but it means costs can be fixed, removing the risk of payments increasing.”
