Lenders begin to return, but outlook for lending activity still subdued

Yesterday’s papers gave considerable coverage to recent Savills research reporting a sharp rise in the number of lenders willing to lend against UK commercial property. Clearly, this adds to the case for expecting a short-term rally in the market. But the facts remain that lenders are still highly exposed to commercial property and tenant defaults remain a concern. Accordingly, we doubt that property lending is about to boom again.