Tuesday 09 July 2019 1:46 pm

Investor enthusiasm for UK commercial property slumps

Investor enthusiasm for commercial property in the UK has slumped further as sentiment swings towards France and Germany.

Only 27 per cent of international professional real estate investors said the UK is their preferred market, down four per cent in the last 12 months as Brexit uncertainty continues to weigh on investor sentiment.

Meanwhile support for the French market saw a 20 per cent year-on-year increase and appetite for German investments rose by seven per cent, according to the latest commercial property investment barometer by real estate platform Brickvest.

There was also a drop in the volume of assets under management that investors are planning to plough into real estate over the next year according to the quarterly survey of 6000 international professional investors.

Investors are planning to commit 2.5 per cent of their total AUM, a drop of 33 per cent on the planned amount of 3.7 per cent in the second quarter of last year.

Brickvest chief executive Emmanuel Lumineau said: “The latest figures of our Barometer reveal the continued negative effect of Brexit uncertainty on the UK commercial property market among international investors and particularly those based in France and Germany.

“We can expect this to continue over the third quarter and the October deadline at the very least.

“In the meantime, France and Germany are becoming more attractive destinations for international real estate capital.”