Commercial Service Charge Benchmarking Research Announced for Retail Sector

24.08.11

Following the publication earlier this year of SCOR (Service Charge Operating Report) for Offices, the KTP partnership between Kingston University and Property Solutions is announcing its intention to publish a retail version of SCOR.

Following the publication earlier this year of SCOR (Service Charge Operating Report) for Offices, the KTP partnership between Kingston University and Property Solutions is announcing its intention to publish a retail version of SCOR.

SCOR for Retail will be a pilot study analysing the service charges applied to retail property in the UK with a particular focus on the UK’s largest shopping centres.  It will assess whether service charge budgets and certificates of expenditure comply with the RICS Code of Practice on Service Charges and analyse management fees and prevalence of sinking/reserve funds.

The cost classifications and descriptions which can often vary widely between portfolios will be examined and additional research will focus on costs in the retail sector, specifically, cost breakdown and trends. 

The base data set for this research includes properties across the UK, owned and managed by several major organisations, and will represent a significant proportion of the UK retail property market. 

Commenting on the study, industry performance analyst for the KTP, Anastasia Zatolokina said: “The commercial property industry, in relation to service charges, will benefit from accurate analysis and benchmarks that give a clear picture of the size, scope and impact of service charges across the UK. Our initial study into commercial offices in the UK has been well received by the industry and we are now running a similar exercise for the retail market following interest expressed from some of the UK’s leading industry participants to replicate this in the retail sector.”

 

The report is due to be published towards the end of 2011 in October/November. Anyone requiring more information on this should contact Anastasia Zatolokina, anastasia@property-solutions.co.uk

For further information please contact: 

Joanna Randall, PurpleFish PR, Joanna.randall@purplefishpr.co.uk

Tel: 07980 057651