Location and mixed use space driving property investment diversification – Castle Trust

Speaking on Specialist Lending Solutions TV in association with Castle Trust Bank, Richard Merrett, head of strategic development at Simplybiz Mortgages said he had noticed an increasing trend for geographical diversity. 

Merrett said this was mainly influenced by investors looking for good value assets.  

He said because of pent-up purchase demand, some areas were perceived to be overpriced. As a result, investors were “looking at maybe diversifying from a geographical perspective to get access to better yielding properties and places where they might not have to pay over the odds,”.

Kris Corns, operations director at Crystal Specialist Finance, said investors were also de-risking their assets by going for mixed use properties. 

He said this was lucrative as properties with retail space underneath residential flats could protect against frequent tenancy changes as retailers were likely to last longer. 

However, if a retailer happened to go out of business, Corns also said it was easier to convert the space for a different use. 

“If you do have that unit and the tenant has gone out of business on the ground floor, it’s relatively easy to get planning permission on some of these now. You can convert it into something else and really add the value there,” he added. 

Watch the video below [8.02] featuring Shekina Tuahene, commercial editor of Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions, Robert Oliver, director of sales at Castle Trust Bank, Anthony Rose, director of LDNfinance, Kris Corns, operations director at Crystal Specialist Finance and Richard Merrett, head of strategic development at Simplybiz Mortgages.