Croydon businesses have been boosted by the arrival of the new East London Line, in what has been hailed as an historic development for London's rail infrastructure.

The new line is expected to stimulate growth and provide opportunities across the area by making access to many jobs in London much easier, and also develop Croydon's status as a centre for retail and commerce further.

The 14 mile line runs from West Croydon to Dalston in North London, and has cost £1 billion with another £500 million being spent on 57 new trains. Four trains an hour will run into West Croydon.

Ian Brown, Managing Director of London Rail for Transport for London, said that the importance of the new line should not be underestimated. "For local people and local businesses in Croydon it will make a heck of difference," he said.

Local businesses said that the opening of the East London line further enhances Croydon Town Centre's claim to be one of the best connected locations in the country including the Tram network, now 10 years old, and East Croydon's high speed train links all set for redevelopment. "The opening of the East London Line will add to the fantastic transport connections available here in Croydon Town Centre," said Ros Morgan, Director of Croydon Town Centre BID. "I'm looking forward to welcoming new shoppers and businesses into the area to take advantage of our facilities via the new tube line."

Andrew Bauer, Centre Director at the Whitgift Shopping Centre added: "The arrival of the East London Line into West Croydon will have the immediate trade benefit of providing a direct link to existing and new retail custom in Crystal Palace and Norwood, and in the longer term the West/East linkage to Canary Wharf will strengthen Croydon as an office location, bringing new employment and greater prosperity to the area." At the same time, Croydon Council has halved the size of the proposed Park Place development to 46,450 sq.metres (500,000 sq.ft.) and will now look for a development partner. It will also seek a new master plan for the site. Minerva, that owns 80% of the site, is considering a sale of the holding but might also seek to be involved in the new scheme.

The question for Croydon is whether the transport improvements will hasten the large mixed use developments that are waiting for pre lets. Part of the problem is that the town has such a large amount of old office space.

Like every other part of the UK, Croydon needs new Grade A office buildings to pull in blue chip tenants.

Jerry Taylor of Stuart Edwards Fullermoon said, "Croydon desperately needs a new building because over the past few years we have not had a corporate office building to satisfy the demand of the market."

One recently refurbished office building, Impact House, is now being marketed aggressively by agent Sinclair Clark and marketing consultancy White Label.

The 16 storey property, which is owned by the Portuguese company Tricos Immobiliaria, is the first new or virtually new office block completed in Croydon for nearly two decades.

Vanessa Clark of Sinclair Clark commented: "Impact House is virtually a new build. We wanted to make sure the key agents got an opportunity to see these buildings for themselves and spread the word that Croydon is a great place to do business."

A spate of deals has lifted the market in Crawley for offices but the industrial market has remained tough with demand concentrated at the smaller end.

Michael Deacon-Jackson of FTD JOHNS said: "So far this year we have seen deals of over 3,716 sq.m. which is more than in the whole of 2009." Some tenants have used the increased activity to prise favourable deals out of their landlords by indicating they were moving. He added: "We have achieved two notable sales this year, both to owner occupiers. These were SEGRO's 1,486 sq.m. South Point and Glenbeigh Developments' G3 at Three Bridges." In addition his firm acted in a letting in Northgate House to Alexander Lloyd as well as letting two units at the Faraday Centre to Treasure Chest and Allport Limited. Stiles Harold Williams has also let space at Elm Park Court.

The encouraging point for the future is that there are two agent led enquiries for around 929 sq.m. for Fender Group and Air Partner. Nevertheless, there remains an oversupply of offices. As far as industrial property is concerned, Deacon-Jackson said: "Demand and supply is in reasonable balance. GE showed with its Brunel Centre that investing money in the units (in this case £50,000 each) can be rewarded with lettings that enabled the agent to inch the rent up to £83.39 a sq.m." One of the problems for the agents is that the deals are taking longer to complete than in the past.

Another significant deal in Crawley has been Cantium getting planning permission for a 3,995 sq.m. supermarket on the site it has held for 18 months adjacent to the County Oak Retail Park. Chris Boulter of Cantium said: "This has been a real achievement for us because the site is close to the Manor Royal Industrial Estate where 30,000 people work. We are now going to the market with the proposal which is for a nicely sized unit. The 18 months' ownership has given us the time to exploit the full potential of the site."

Flybe has started a daily service between Edinburgh and Manston which is a key event in the expansion of the Kent airport. Tom Watson of Infratil Airports Europe, the owner of Manston, said: "The new service, the first daily from an airport in Kent, demonstrates Manston's capabilities as a regional airport for the south east and offers the prospect of a further 50,000 passengers using the airport each year.

Afon
Worthing Road,
Horsham,
West Sussex
RH12 1TL
(www.afon-horsham.co.uk)

Location:
The building is superbly located within the Gatwick Diamond and walking distance of Horsham's picturesque town centre.

Description:
Afon is a headquarters building, refurbished to Grade A standards. 50% of the building has been pre let. The remainder is available as individual suites.

Access:
The building is accessible via road (A24, M23 (J11), M25(J8/9) and by rail routes to London and the South Coast.

Amenities:

• Attractive reception area
• Twin passenger lifts
• Comfort Cooling
• Suspended ceilings with energy saving lighting
• Flexible accommodation
• Comprehensive refurbishment
• 98 on site car parking

Availability:
Ground floor front: 2,210 sq ft
Ground floor rear: 2,606 sq ft
1st floor rear: 2,611 sq ft
3rd floor front: 4,179 sq ft
TOTAL: 11,606 sq ft

Terms:
Leasehold.
Competitive terms available.

For further details and viewings, contact:

Adam Walker, Crickmay
01403 264259

Stuart Clark, Marshall Clark
01903 236599

Kevin Mersh, NB Real Estate
020 7544 2000

Willmott Dixon Development has joined Carisbrooke and Woking Borough Council for the £250 million regeneration of the Surrey town. The plan is for the development of a 5.7 acre site in the town centre adjacent to the railway station for a 46,450 sq.metres (500,000 sq.ft.) mixture of residential, leisure, commercial and retail space. Willmott Dixon's Andrew Telfer commented: "Woking Gateway has all the essential ingredients to make the project an outstanding success with complementary partners with the combined skill sets to prepare and realise a great design." He added that the company has a strategic aim of further mixed use developments. Carisbrooke's Neil Young said: "We hope to finalise the master plan and achieve planning permission within two years."

Medway has secured funding for a number of new projects which will benefit residents and local businesses. Around £2.3 million has been invested by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interrreg IVA 2Seas Project A Programme to develop cross Channel connections with partners in France and Belgium on a variety of issues.

Skye IT, the Kent based technology group, is to move its headquarters to Kings Hill, West Malling, a location which is close to the home of the co-founder of Skye, Paul Swords.

The Skandia Property Fund is continuing to take advantage of current UK commercial property prices with a buying programme. Its latest purchase is the Interchange, Swanley which was bought for £24.77 million, an initial yield of 6.82%. The £426 million fund is managed by sub-adviser Nigel Pickup of ING Real Estate Investment Management.

Sittingbourne is another town in Kent that plans a major regeneration and this has taken a step forward with the sale of the former M-Real paper mill site. The 14 acre site in the town centre has been empty since 2007 and will be redeveloped as part of the plan for the Swale Local Authority. The site has now been bought by Essential Land LLP through Strutt & Parker.

Dover in Kent sees the first UK office building built using the German PassivHaus concept. Beechwood Business Park offers a highly energy efficient building which leaves a minimal carbon footprint. The concept allows the building to heat and cool itself (hence 'Passive') and allows for 80% saving on conventional newbuild standards.

Architect Sir Terry Farrell is certainly getting his fair share of commissions in Kent with contracts in both Ashford and down the road in Folkestone. The plans for Ashford are really ambitious and the £2.5 billion investment seeks to build 31,000 homes in the next 21 years, doubling the town's size. Initially, 7,500 residential units are due to be completed by 2012.

The Farrell plan is not simply about building more houses but includes a new station quarter, commercial quarter and a bridge over the rail line which carries the Eurostar service through Kent to London.

Led by Ashford Future, the regeneration company, there will also be investment in improving the edges of the town centre. As far as Sir Terry is concerned "Ashford could become one of the country's most prosperous and dynamic towns, helped by the Eurostar rail link effectively providing a gateway for Europe." That also means that the town has many of the qualities that Sir Terry feels create a strong and vibrant community.

In the case of Folkestone, Terry Farrell & Partners will draw up plans for the harbour and seafront in a residential led project which will have large elements of public and mixed use space. The initial effort has been to hold an exhibition and public consultations.

Sir Terry said: "Now is the time to bring about the renaissance of Kent's coastal towns. Thanks to the high speed rail link connecting with Europe, Folkestone is less than an hour away from London making it perfectly placed for growth." Trevor Minter of the harbour company said: "The proposal will deliver significant benefits to the public realm and create an attractive seafront environment." The company is owned by Roger de Haan, whose family built up the largest employers in the town, Saga.

His charitable trust has been buying up and improving properties since he purchased the company from Sea Containers for £11 million. His focus is on an arts led regeneration and the town has seen a variety of projects, including public sculpture.

Land Securities has sold the Park Farm and Phases IV and V Albany Park, Frimley, Surrey to Schroders Exempt Property Unit Trust (SEPUT) for £11.85 million, an 8.03% yield.

The portfolio is a mixture of retail, warehouse and industrial units. There is a Focus (DIY) store, a 3,392 sq.metres (36,511 sq.ft.) warehouse let to Travelex Currency Services and small industrial units totalling 1,852 sq.metres (19,931 sq.ft.).

Another substantial deal in Surrey has seen Mountgrange Investment Management agreeing to pay Scottish Widows £23.5 million for the Meadows Business Park, Camberley, for a yield of 8.75%.

The park has 13,006 sq.metres (140,000 sq.ft.) of Grade A offices as well as a 1,486 sq.metres (16,000 sq.ft.) of storage space. Occupancy rates are currently 80% on the park with seven occupiers. Rob West of Mountgrange commented: "Meadows Business Park is a best in class office development. It was purchased at well below replacement cost with an attractive running yield which will increase upon letting the vacant space."

Absolute Invoice Finance has taken a larger unit through Martine Waghorn at Turkey Mill Business Park, Maidstone as part of its expansion plan. Absolute's Ian Clark said: "Moving within Turkey Mill will allow us to continue to provide entrepreneurial businesses in the south east with the best possible level of local knowledge and expertise."

Seizing an opportunity has paid off for Europa Capital with its £30 million profit on selling the Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre, Maidstone for £100 million after owning it for less than 12 months. Aviva Investors has bought the 32,515 sq.metres centre, which was sold last year by Land Securities, for a yield of 6.5%.

The emphasis in the three counties is moving on from the recession and planning for the future by improving the infrastructure through major development projects.

Croydon already has the East London line operating and that will stimulate activity in the town and hopefully get the developers with all those grand plans building again. After all it is no good the property industry throughout the UK sitting on its hands and refusing to build new offices and industrial units.

The time will come when the whole economy is being held up by a lack of new buildings, which was intensified by the absurd government policy on abolishing empty rates relief.

There is one place where the impetus for change continues unabated and that is Ashford. Sir Terry Farrell's plans are ambitious and will transform the east Kent town totally. He also has the opportunity to keep the changes in Folkestone moving ahead. There is no doubt that local businessman Roger de Haan will not rest until massive change is achieved.

The pick up in Crawley illustrates that there is demand in the market and landlords' will to fit the deals to the circumstances. At least that flexibility is one thing that has been achieved in the recession. Activity like this will boost confidence and be self-fulfilling.