Further support for a more optimistic office rental outlook

The tone of today’s CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey was generally subdued, although an improvement in expectations about future business volumes points to a continued slowdown in the rate of decline in IPD all-office rental values this year. Elsewhere, commercial property lending remained weak in February and, to the extent that it hinders developers, low levels of bank lending in the coming quarters would also tend to support a more optimistic outlook for office rents.