The Intermediary – July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 52
SPECIALIST FINANCE
Opinion
Semi-commercial
property is a
natural next step
O
ne of the things I
enjoy about this
job is that no two
conversations are
ever quite the same.
One minute you’re
talking about Central London, the
next it’s Rotherham, then somewhere
completely different.
On the face of it, they sound like
very different discussions. In reality,
they oen end up in the same place.
Not where investors are looking, but
what they are looking for.
None of them were chasing the
next big thing. If anything, they
were doing the opposite. They were
looking carefully at opportunities that
sit slightly outside the mainstream.
Assets that receive less aention than
traditional buy-to-let (BTL), but can
still play an important role within
a portfolio.
That is where semi-commercial
property comes in. We sometimes talk
about it as though it sits in a separate
part of the market, but that’s not
always the case.
Many landlords have probably
walked past dozens of semicommercial properties this week
without giving them a second thought.
Flats above shops, mixed-use
buildings on local high streets and
properties with commercial premises
on the ground floor and residential
accommodation above are hardly rare
sights. They have been part of our
high streets for decades and, in many
cases, have delivered reliable returns
without aracting huge amounts
of aention.
That said, I get the sense that
more investors are now willing to
consider them.
Part of that comes down to
experience. A landlord buying
their first investment property is
50
The Intermediary | July 2026
usually focused on keeping things
straightforward. Someone who
has spent years building a portfolio
oen approaches opportunities
quite differently. They have a beer
understanding of risk, a clearer
idea of what works for them and, in
many cases, a greater willingness to
consider properties that sit outside the
traditional buy-to-let norm.
I have seen that reflected in
conversations with brokers as well.
Cases that might once have focused
exclusively on standard buy-to-let
properties are now more likely to
include discussions around mixed-use
assets, particularly where investors
are looking for something that
complements what they already own.
Diversifying options
Recent research from Hamptons
suggests investors remain very
active, albeit with a more selective
approach. Between January and
April this year, landlords accounted
for 13.3% of all property purchases
across Great Britain, the highest share
since 2016, according to Hamptons.
More tellingly, a record 23% of homes
bought by landlords had previously
been owned by another landlord.
If anything, it suggests investors
are becoming more deliberate about
what they buy and why. That is hardly
surprising. Between changing tax
treatment, higher financing costs and
the introduction of the Renters’ Rights
Act, landlords have had plenty of
reasons to think more carefully about
where they deploy capital.
They are spending more time
looking at income, location, tenant
demand and long-term suitability,
rather than simply pursuing whatever
opportunity happens to appear first.
I’m not sure I would go as far as
saying semi-commercial property is
MARTIN SIMS
is distribution director at Molo
the future of property investment.
Aer all, the property market has
a habit of surprising people who
think they have worked it all out.
What I do think is happening is that
more investors are widening their
field of vision and becoming open
to opportunities that may not have
previously featured on their radar.
The commercial element naturally
introduces additional considerations.
Tenant demand can vary, valuation
approaches may differ and the
income profile may not always
mirror a straightforward residential
investment. None of that makes these
assets inaccessible. It simply means
they deserve proper analysis.
At Molo, we recently expanded
our lending proposition to include
semi-commercial property. The
thinking behind that was fairly
straightforward. We could see brokers
having broader conversations with
clients and wanted to be able to
support more of those scenarios. It
was less about entering a new market
and more about recognising where
existing demand was already heading.
Buy-to-let remains the foundation
of many successful property
portfolios, but more investors seem
willing to look beyond the asset
types they know best when the right
opportunity presents itself.
And judging by the conversations
I have been having recently, whether
they start in central London,
Rotherham or somewhere else
entirely, that trend still feels as though
it has some way to run. ●
