Whilst the commercial property market has suffered in the downturn, with values slumping by up to 40% since the peak of the property bubble in mid-2007, James Higgins from financial advice firm Chamberlain de Broe has said that he is seeing a renewed interest in commercial property.

Clients, typically in their 50s to mid-60s with portfolios of over £3 million, are now taking a more “long term view” of where to invest their cash, with deposits earning little or nothing. “This new money needs a home,” Mr Higgins says. “Even in this market, people like tangible investments.”

However, Mr Higgins does not share the blind optimism of other figures who have announced that another commercial property boom is just around the corner. According to him, the lack of consumer confidence is still a major problem.

"Clients want to take very little risk and they won’t invest as large a sum as before or invest in a speculative development. Rather more realistic returns are acceptable and investors appreciate that liquidity isn’t what it was. There is appetite, but people are very focused on whether there is an exit - they may be looking for the developer to buy them out after three to five years." He concluded.