After a much criticised two-year postponement, the new 2017 rating assessments will finally be available on 30th September 2016.

Six months later, on 1st April 2017, the revaluation of business rates will come into effect based on the value of premises at 1st April 2015. Retailers are particularly anxious about the outcome of the revaluation as their sector was hit hard by the delay. They will have their first indication of the new rates after the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes the draft list at the end of September. This will determine the level at which business rates will be set in April when the list becomes live.

The House of Fraser building in Cardiff city centre has been acquired in an off-market purchase by Rosette Merchant Bank in partnership with Naissance Capital Real Estate from M&G Real Estate for £37m.

The purchase has been made on behalf of Middle Eastern investors and represents a yield of 6.25%. House of Fraser has an unexpired lease term of 25 years at the listed building, which occupies a prime city centre location at 14-18 St Mary Street. Cooke & Arkwright advised Rosette Merchant Bank and Naissance Capital Real Estate in the deal, and M&G was represented by Allsop.Cooke & Arkwright has been retained by the new owners to provide Property Management services.

Barclays UK Prosperity Map, which  provides an in-depth view of the different prosperity drivers across the UK regions, shows that Cardiff saw one of the largest increases in SME turnover in the UK, at 12%, and GDP per capita growth up by 9.7%.

Michael Lawley, Chairman of Cooke & Arkwright comments, "Cardiff is a great place in which to live, work and play, and has a huge amount to offer on a professional, cultural and personal level. We were delighted to read this report which clearly vindicates the confidence we have in conducting our business and dealing especially with inward investment to the area. Cardiff has set an ambitious course for future growth with major ...

Work on Cardiff’s £2bn ‘garden city’, Plasdŵr is due to start in autumn 2016 after the lead developer, Redrow Homes, agreed Section 106 terms with Cardiff Council to deliver planning permission for the first phase of the scheme.

£8m is to be invested in strategic infrastructure around the first phase of 630 homes to the north and south of Llantrisant Road at the approach to Radyr, with the first homes expected in Spring 2017. The city’s planners also resolved to grant outline permission for a further 290 homes at a second phase at Pentrebane, subject to completion of a S106 agreement,  with infrastructure works expected to get under way in early 2017 and the first homes available next autumn. Michael Lawley, Chairman of Cooke & Arkwright and development advisor to the landowner on the scheme comments, “It has been a long process to navigate a path ...

The building and construction industry continues to face supply shortages of raw materials, skills and labour, as reported in the latest RICS UK Construction Market Survey.

Along with financial restraints and planning and regulatory delays, the dearth of bricklayers and quantity surveyors is slowing output in the construction market, albeit it surveyors still expect activity to rise rather than fall over the year ahead. A separate report undertaken for the Construction Industry Training Board and the Home Builders Federation, expands the shortage to include ...

A three-storey mansion house and mews cottage in one of Penarth’s most desirable areas has been brought to market representing a superb investment opportunity in a prime location.

Min y Don, or ‘Crest of the Wave’ is a grand Victorian building latterly converted into six self-contained one and two-bedroom flats, most retaining their original features. The upper floor has sweeping views across the Bristol Channel with Glastonbury Tor being visible on clear days. Within the 0.38 acre grounds is a detached, two-storey former coach house with residential accommodation on the first floor and ground floor store rooms. 

A four-acre site housing a former barracks in the Rhondda is to go under the hammer at an exclusive on-site auction on 22 September 2016 with a guide price of in excess of £25,000.

Located in a secure and secluded location bordered by the bow of the Rhondda Fawr river and a railway line, the property has an interesting history. First developed as a workshop for the Rhondda Engine Works, it was acquired by the Territorial Army and converted to barracks, at one time housing American troops during the Second World War...