UK commercial property insolvencies will reach up to 1,600 this year, it has been claimed.
According to the restructuring firm Bebgies Traynor, more than 300 firms in the sector are facing severe financial trouble, while the overall rate of company bankruptcy by the end of 2009 is expected to be 64 per cent higher than 2008.
As a result, the number of companies utilising services such as secure virtual data rooms to swiftly sell their assets is also likely to rise.
Senior London partner at the firm, Nick Hood, said: "We're seeing a build up of problems in the commercial property sector, as the real economy in which their tenants operates continues to unravel."
He added that the only "upside" had been a slide in interest costs, but this offered "little relief" to those landlords faced with accelerating numbers of tenant defaults.
A recent investigation by the information specialist Experian found that Birmingham and London were the worst hit cities by corporate bankruptcies in January.
