'Commercial property market not impacting upon SMEs'

Fluctuations in the commercial property market are not having a negative affect on the majority of small and medium-sized businesses, an expert has said.

According to George Derbyshire, chief executive of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA), as "the commercial property market works to a different dynamic to the residential market … we would not expect to see the same 'boom or bust' approach".

However, he added that although "we are not aware of any great level of concern at the present time … anecdotally, businesses looking for funding to buy premises will find lenders more cautious than previously".

The monthly downward trend of total returns from commercial property continued to slow last month, according to figures from the Investment Property Databank.

Commercial property produced a total return of -0.8 per cent in March, compared to -1 per cent in February and -2 per cent in January.

The NFEA is a network of independent, not-for-profit, Local Enterprise Agencies committed to responding to the needs of small and growing businesses.