Central London property investment soars after General Election
Investment in central London’s office market soared in December, after the result of the General Election sparked a flurry of deal activity.
The £4.9bn invested in the fourth quarter of last year was a 125 per cent jump on the amount invested in the previous quarter and was on par with 2018.
The Conservative general election victory ignited investor confidence, and £2.55bn transacted in December alone.
In total, 16 transactions of more than £100m were completed over the period, more than in the rest of the year combined, according to CBRE research.
The largest deal was the £607.5m sale of the Post Building in Bloomsbury. The biggest transaction of the year over all was the £1.1bn sale of Canary Wharf’s 25 Canada Square.
However, the uncertainty that reigned throughout the rest of 2019 saw the full-year total fall to £11.3bn – 36 per cent down on the previous year and the lowest level since 2011.
The fourth quarter of last year was the most active for domestic investment since 2013, as UK investors spent £2.3bn in the central London market.
Meanwhile, international investment declined from 76 per cent of the market in 2019 to 53 per cent of the market in 2019.
CBRE head of central London investment James Beckham said: “2019 was a challenging year for the central London office investment market.
“A lack of stock, coupled with heightened political uncertainty that persisted all year, resulted in more hesitancy from overseas investors.
“However, the surge in investment in December has heralded heightened levels of confidence which we expect to continue into 2020.”
Sign up to Morning Wire’s Midday Update newsletter, delivered to your inbox every lunchtime