Office space lettings in Cardiff for 2016 are up 61% on the same time last year, according to new figures released by Cooke & Arkwright.

According to the data, gathered as part of the Cardiff Commercial Property Forum take-up statistics, total floor space leased in the city in 2016 to the end of Q3 is 485,456 sq ft, compared with 300,902 sq ft for the same period last year.

The draft 2017 Rating List was published on 30th September. The VOA provided a detailed breakdown by region and sector for properties in England. However, Welsh changes were released with an analysis of changes by property sector only. Cooke & Arkwright has now produced a breakdown of the movements in RV for each of the 22 Unitary Authorities in Wales.

This has revealed a wide variation between authorities, with for example, an 11% decline in Neath Port Talbot against a 9% increase in Conwy. Within each Unitary Authority the distribution of winners and losers is even more pronounced. A public house in Conwy has seen its RV rise by 406%...

A £3 million plan has been approved to turn Aberystwyth’s Hen Ysgol Gymraeg (Old Welsh School) into a leisure quarter, which will have the capacity to accommodate up to six different restaurants, leisure and retail units ranging in size from 1,000 sq ft up to 3,500 sq ft.

Cooke & Arkwright's Retail & Leisure team has already signed up Pizza Express and Loungers to the scheme. The historic Grade II listed building, which is located between the town's railway station and new Tesco and Marks & Spencer, has a 14,000 sq ft footprint.

Up to 20% of all non-domestic properties could fall below new minimum standard.

There are significant implications for landlords of commercial and residential properties who do not comply with new energy efficiency standards coming into force on 1st April 2018, including financial penalties, adverse impact on property valuations, and dilapidation claims.

An impressive range of stone barns, formerly used as a watermill set near the village of St Brides-super-Ely in the Vale of Glamorgan, is being offered as a prime development opportunity for conversion into an attractive residential dwelling. 

St y Nyll Barns comprises a mixture of traditional stone and brick buildings with a series of distinctive, semi-circular, high level arched openings and a slate roof.  The L-shape structure has full planning permission to provide a large...

Greggs has opened its highest profile shop within its South Wales portfolio in a 100% prime position on Cardiff’s Queen Street.

This is the tenth unit to be acquired for Greggs across South Wales to-date in 2016 by Cooke & Arkwright’s Retail & Leisure team.

Pictured: Sian Collins, Greggs Area Manager; Hayley MacDonald, Shop Manager and Ian Newbury, Cooke & Arkwright

Huw Jones, Associate with Cooke & Arkwright’s Rating department, was keen to try out the new Flybe service from Cardiff to London City Airport while the Severn Tunnel is closed for main line electrification work.

He is now a convert and hopes that the air service will become permanent alternative. Check out Huw’s schedule below to see if it would work for you.…

The team for Wales’ 2017 Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers this autumn are gearing up for the first qualifying match this Saturday and Cooke & Arkwright Surveyor, Ian Newbury, is in the squad.

Ian, who is a Surveyor with the Retail & Leisure team, was among the six Ironmen players to be named by John Kear in his 29-man train-on squad in September and was retained when the squad was whittled down to 22 players.

The South East Wales branch of Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust held its annual charity Clay Shoot on Friday 30th September at Cefntilla Estate near Usk.

Cooke & Arkwright were main sponsors of the event and also entered a team lead by Chris Hyde, Associate Director with Land Agency, who brought along client guests including Bob Bates from Coleg Gwent, David Withers from Western Power Distribution, and Ben Herbert of the Llanarth Estate.

A four-acre site housing a former barracks in the Rhondda went under the hammer at an exclusive on-site auction held by Cooke & Arkwright on 22 September 2016.

The auction was held in the drill hall and the barracks attracted strong bidding from about 20 interested buyers. Auctioneer Rod Perons commented, “It was beautiful day which allowed last minute viewing to take place before the auction was held. There was keen interest and strong bidding in the room with the price rising ...