Tenant demand continued to fall across all sectors during the first quarter of the year, although the rate of decline has slowed slightly.

The RICS Commercial Property Survey which was recently published showed that there was to be an expected accelerated increase in the rate of rental declines on the back of the large increase in available floor space.

65% more surveyors reported a rise in available floor space, a figure up from 57% in the 4th quarter of 2008.

It said the ‘ongoing contraction in the economy and the continuing rise in available floor space have weighed on surveyor expectations for the rental outlook’.

‘Surveyors are now more pessimistic than ever before with 80% of surveyors expecting a fall than a rise in rents. The value of inducements (a lead indicator of future rental trends) rose at the fastest pace in the survey’s history as landlords continued to try to boost demand with incentives,’ it said.

As always, we recommend all landlords to utilise a credit check service on all tenants they are considering renting to, such as Creditsure, as a means to prevent debts being built up from unscrupulous tenants.

Tags: credit checks