Firms seeking offices to let might find it easier to obtain financial support by having their property valued independently, it has been suggested.
A statement from the Forum of Private Business (FPB) said small companies are being landed with unfairly-high interest or being refused loans altogether because banks often under-value properties when considering them as security.
Andrew Bacon, property issues adviser at the FPB, remarked: "One of the root causes of the crisis of lending on commercial property is the lack of transparency in the UK's commercial property market."
He added many valuators have inadequate market data that leads them to make pessimistic judgements on properties, limiting banks' ability to lend to businesses.
Therefore, firms might benefit from using an independent assessment tool such as CostMINDER, an online device developed by business property specialist LeaseholdersUnited.
It was recently proposed by Andrew Cave, head of policy at the Federation of Small Businesses, that small companies need to build a relationship of trust with banks to gain greater access to finance.
