Pictured above: Julian Healey, head of LSH's Nottingham office

As part of a push to assist owners and occupiers of commercial property through the recession national commercial property consultancy, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), has warned of the potential risks associated with leaving vacant buildings unattended.

Owners of commercial property have enough to contend with in the current economic climate, yet the credit crunch has left vast amounts of space across the UK's major towns and cities empty, posing no end of difficulties in trying to ensure they remain in a marketable condition.

Head LSH's Nottingham office, Julian Healey, said: "Abandoned and vacant properties can easily fall victim to criminal and environmental damage, including vandalism, fire, theft and flooding to name but a few."

Unprecedented levels of vacant commercial space exist across the UK and, with limited new requirements from potential occupiers on the horizon, the figure is likely to remain high for some time.

Julian, who also heads up LSH's Property Management team in Nottingham, said: "It is important that the property industry address the issue of vacant property through the downturn for economic reasons but also as a matter of social responsibility.

"Vacant buildings can quickly become a nuisance to the local community, which often acts as a beacon for other criminal activity.  They also pose a severe health and safety risk and can seriously limit a building's future income generation potential.   It is also worth noting that the cost of remedial works can sometimes run into hundreds of thousands of pounds."

Interestingly, the majority of landlords' and owners' responsibilities remain in place whether the property is occupied or not.   These include Health and Safety compliance requirements, a duty of care to protect the public and prevent unauthorised entry, together with the need to comply with insurance requirements.  It is common practice that most insurers currently insist on regular inspections (in most cases weekly), together with securing the premises, installing intruder monitoring systems and isolating services.  Failure to comply with these requirements is likely to render the insurance void at potentially considerable expense.

As such, the need for effective property management has never been more crucial.  By maintaining a secure and well-presented property that complies with the insurer's requirements, these risks can be mitigated, ensuring the building remains an asset rather than an expensive eyesore!

Vacant property management is an unpleasant necessity and it is no surprise that this area of business is on the rise.  Recent new instructions range from offices, industrial and distribution warehouse units, high street shops, through to vacant plots of development land. All of these assets have their own unique problems to be addressed underlining the need for professional bespoke solutions at the same time focused on minimizing outgoings.

LSH's message to all owners and landlords is abundantly clear and resonates across all sectors: 'Cash flow may be hard to come by at the moment but leaving properties to mothball is a potentially hazardous false economy. Prevention is cheaper than the cure!'