Pictured: Andrew Jones

The fall in the value of commercial property has opened the door to tenants interested in buying the freehold of the premises they are leasing, according to a Midlands leading law firm.

The significant drop overall in the UK market over the last four years, has left landlords with buildings which are far from  the firm investment they were a short time ago, says Andrew Jones of HCB's commercial property department.

There are also concerns for landlords who should their present tenant decide to move when the lease has finished, will be left with a building on which they will be responsible for potentially heavy business rates  and that has little likelihood of producing any income.

On the other hand, tenants who have perhaps two to three years to run on their lease - whether on factories, warehouses or offices - could seize the opportunity to acquire the freehold at a good price, on a building on which they are currently paying rent and which they don't want to leave.

HCB, which offices in Solihull, Alcester, Stratford upon Avon, Redditch, Lichfield and Walsall, has joined forces with a firm of surveyors specialising in commercial property and a finance house willing to look sympathetically at freehold purchases, to form a fast-track team working specifically towards landlord/tenant freehold deals.

The aim of the new team is to put together finance packages which benefit not only the tenant who wants to buy the freehold at the best prices bearing in mind the fall in commercial property values, and the landlord eager to sell his investment and move away from a concern which is no longer a profitable proposition.

Andrew Jones said: "There are no signs that the slide in the commercial property market will reverse in the short to medium term and this has left landlords taking a long hard look at the future of their assets.

"It's a situation that didn't exist some four years ago. Then the market was buoyant, but now tenants should be taking advantage of the results of a slump and the precarious position their landlords may find themselves in.

"For landlords, selling the freehold to tenants already in situ offers a perfect solution to both parties".

Andrew admits that buying the freehold for any type of commercial property can be a complex and drawn-out process especially when three or four independent professional firms are involved.

"Moving the paper work backwards and forwards around the companies eats up time and pushes up costs.

"That's why our three companies handling three different aspects of the negotiations have joined forces. Working together we can efficiently speed up the process so that both tenant and landlord benefit.

"The finance house has already intimated that, although there is a general feeling that sourcing the finance for such deals is almost impossible, there is money to lend on the right agreements.

"If the bank can regard the transactions as owner-occupier deals, good terms on borrowing are achievable".