Looking back on 2024

As we closed 2024, London's commercial property market and our agency teams demonstrated remarkable resilience, adapting to ongoing economic shifts and evolving occupier needs. While nobody in the industry will tell you the last few years have been easy, we continued to match active requirements with the right properties as the demand has increased.

We're confident about 2025, with some results indicating that the market is moving in the right direction. Looking at our Commercial Agency metrics:

• Requirements across all sectors were up 22.46% this year, with our website delivering 20% more enquiries than 2023.
• Applicants were looking for more space - average square feet registered for increased by 25%.
• We took on 202 new listings, 18% more than 2023.

Recognitions and Rankings

We were proud to start the year awarded by CoStar for our office activity. This was our third year running for CoStar recognition in our East and North London territories.

• 1st Place: Most Active Office Disposal Agent by Number of Transactions | North & Northern Fringe London | CoStar Awards 2024
• 2nd Place: Most Active Office Disposal Agent by Sq Ft Transacted | North & Northern Fringe London | CoStar Awards 2024
• 2nd Place: Most Active Office Disposal Agent by Number of Transactions East & Eastern Fringe London | CoStar Awards 2024
• 3rd Place: Most Active Office Disposal Agent by Sq Ft Transacted | East & Eastern Fringe London | CoStar Awards 2024

Coming into the new year, our overall agency activity kept us at the top of the EG Radius On-Demand Ranking charts across multiple categories. In all of Greater London and all agencies, Strettons Commercial Agency teams placed as the 7th highest lettings & occupational sales contributors across all sectors.

Across Town Centre and New Build work, Office, Retail, and Capital Markets, some exciting projects were won and delivered by our team. View more here. 

This year has brought about significant developments in the industrial and logistics sector, including rental market fluctuations, a stronger emphasis on sustainability, evolving occupier needs, and notable trends in new developments.

Industrial Market Activity

From facilitating major land transactions and relocations for key occupiers to supporting the expansion of top-tier industrial estates across London, the agency team has had an active and successful year.

In 2024, we transacted on or put under offer a total of 1.32 million sq ft of industrial space. This includes a diverse range of properties, from expansive units within prominent industrial parks to smaller warehouses, workshops, and strategic land deals.

Our analysis indicates that demand for industrial spaces has remained stable throughout the year, with steady occupancy levels. This trend is expected to carry forward into the first quarter of 2025.

Recognitions and Rankings

We are proud of our continued success and the recognition received in 2024:

• 1st Place: All Sectors | Occupational Sales by Number of Transactions | Greater London | EG On-Demand Rankings
• 1st Place: Industrial | Lettings & Occupational Sales by Number of Transactions | Haringey | EG On-Demand Rankings
• 2nd Place: Industrial | Lettings & Occupational Sales by Sq Ft Transacted | Haringey | EG On-Demand Rankings
• 1st Place: Industrial | Lettings & Occupational Sales by Number of Transactions | Waltham Forest | EG On-Demand Rankings
• 1st Place: Industrial | Lettings & Occupational Sales by Sq Ft Transacted | Waltham Forest | EG On-Demand Rankings

Shaping London's Industrial Estates

Throughout the year, we have collaborated with landlords and property owners across key industrial estates in East and North London. Our work has focused on curating an optimal tenant mix while aligning with broader market trends and regional needs.

This steady progress reflects our commitment to driving success and innovation within London's dynamic industrial and logistics landscape.

View their full summary and what to expect in 2025 here

There was significant growth for our Valuation and Advisory Services teams in 2024, both with new team members and in instructions. We saw increased valuations for supermarkets, schools, churches, industrial and commercial property outside our core patch. Other specialist areas include secured lending valuations, end-of-year accounts and probate valuations.

In the second half of the year, the team has worked on 15 lease renewals and 41 rent review cases, averaging a rental growth of 15.4%. View all our cases here.

The team welcomed Jonathan Davis as a new Director for Valuation Advisory Services, who brings over a decade of experience in property valuations. Sam Boothby was appointed as Head of Lease Advisory, joining from CBRE, and has a focus on making our rental valuations and negotiations even more beneficial for our clients.

2024 positioned our team for success, driven by new strategic hires, innovative approaches and continuing our strong market presence within London and the Home Counties.

The team finished the financial year with the best year on record. It was a busy year, and the team expanded into new areas of work, such as compensation for structural defects and compulsory purchase compensation. We strengthened our resources with the appointment of Dan Bowden, who is helping service existing work and expanding our viability toolkit work.

Key instructions

CPO and Estate Regeneration Project

We were appointed on an extensive CPO instruction by a Housing Association and on a further estate regeneration project. Acting for them for 10 years, we have valued over 500 homes as part of the buy-back process before Compulsory Purchase action.

Housing Association Buy-Back Instruction

Appointed as an acquisition agent to buy private homes in order to house homeless families with a budget of over £5 million. Secured the purchase of 10 homes, and these transactions were completed at the total budget level.

Canterbury Council Viability Toolkit

Successful tender to provide the council with development viability toolkit advice as part of the town planning process.

2024 was a busy year for our receivership team. In June, Strettons was quoted in '2024: Is this the year of the Receiverships?', spurred by NARA, the Association of Property and Fixed Charge Receivers, reporting the first half of 2024 saw a 13% increase in receivership appointments for corporate loans. Working with our lending clients and with new appointments from individuals, we have seen an influx of properties coming under receivership and our teams have yet to see any signs of slowing down.

Some notable feats for the team have been our Director of Receivership receiving the Bridging & Development Lending Association's Benson Hersch Memorial Bursary award in November and guest speaking at the Auction Buyers Club.

At the close of December, our team was appointed on over 110 active receivership cases throughout England and Wales, with 90 new cases taken in 2024. View all our cases here.

Our cases include every type of property: prime Central London Houses worth 10's of millions, City office buildings, development sites, part-completed developments, shops, houses and flats, barn conversions and everything in between.

We have noticed an increase in appointments and discussions about potential appointments at the end of the year, so expect 2025 to be even busier than 2024 (which wasn't quiet!). Together with a major law firm, we are working on an exciting receivership scenario that we haven't seen used before, but this could open a new market for receiverships – our first appointment is anticipated in the Spring.

As 2024 draws to a close for our auction cycle this year, we reflect on year of successful sales - transacting £75.5 million worth of property at an 85% success rate.

The figures showcase the auction market's resilience in a challenging year and our commitment to achieving the best price for our clients.

Some clear trends have emerged throughout the year for both buyers and sellers.

Receivership properties on the rise 

A noticeable trend this year was the increased number of receivership properties entering the market. The surge can be attributed to the economic challenges of 2024 where inflation and rising interest rates earlier in the year may have contributed to financial strain on some property owners and investors.

High demand for vacant properties

Vacant freehold and leaseholder properties across both residential and commercial sectors were particularly popular amongst buyers. Properties with a strong value-add element and within sought-after locations continued to attract a diverse range of buyers, ultimately leading to some excellent bids on auction day.

Land development

There has been an uptake in land sales over this year which reflects the flexibility land investments bring for buyers - the development prospects of converting land into residential, commercial or mixed-use projects is appealing to wide range of buyers. There is also the affordability element as acquiring assets through auction presents an opportunity to purchase at a competitive price.

Notable sales of the year

February 22nd sale | 88 Ling Road, Canning Town, London, E16 4AN guided at £150,000 and selling at £214,000 | 42% increase

April 18th sale | 59A Penshurst Road, Hackney, London, E9 7DT guided at £500,000 and selling at £870,000 | 74% increase

June 6th sale | Land on the south side of 2 Whitehall Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 3AJ guided at £60,000 and selling at £110,000 | 83% increase

July 25th sale | 14 The Broadway, Broadway Parade, Elm Park, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 4RW guided at £275,000 and selling at £400,000 | 45% increase

September 12th sale | 58 Clarendon Road, London, N15 3JX guided at £275,000 and selling at £437,000 | 58% increase

December 12th sale | Garage site at Hilton Close, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 2QJ guided at £350,000 and selling at £498,000 | 215% increase

December 12th sale | 93 & 93a High Road, Wood Green, London, N22 6BB guided at £495,000 and selling at £900,000 | 81% increase

Our largest department in the firm, comprised of specialised teams to service commercial portfolios nationwide and residential portfolios within London, had a busy 2024. The team brought on some exciting new work across the UK, predominantly for properties ranging from 7,500 to 20,000 sq ft.

Some of our most recent wins include:

• Leisure Centre spanning 8.27 acres with future development potential in Chingford
• Retail Park in Chingford
• Office space in Bushey on behalf of an existing client
• Management of a well-known hotel brand in Chigwell and Snaresbrook
• Multi-let industrial site in Hainault
• Appointed to manage new fractional ownership assets in two east London hotels for TAB - a real estate finance and investment house. One asset was sold within 10.5 months, producing an 11.5% ROI. We are continuing management.

Our full list of active management cases can be found here.

We are proud to have raised nearly £14,000 for charitable causes in 2024.

Led by our team sponsorships and Charity Committee, we hosted, sponsored and gave back to support a range of events throughout the year. From local advocacy programmes to cancer charities, community involvement is one of our core pillars, and we plan to grow it.

We look forward to continuing the new year with some transformative changes are on the horizon for our firm. These developments, which we have been working on over the last year, will continue to shape our future, and we can’t wait to reveal the details.

2024 was an incredible year - one of new milestones and achievements. Now, we’re ready to take things to the next level in 2025!

Thank you for your continued support and determination. Here’s to even greater success ahead.