Brexit hits UK commercial property market sentiment
Sentiment in the UK’s commercial property market has dampened significantly since the referendum vote to leave the European Union with investment demand falling sharply, most notably in London. The heightened sense of caution is visible across both investment and occupier sides of the market, with uncertainty pushing rental and capital value projections into negative territory, according to the latest commercial property market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It shows that and increasing share of respondents across the UK now feel the market is in an early downturn phase and the 12 month capital value and rental projections have now moved into negative territory. On a UK wide basis, occupier demand failed to rise for the first time since 2012. The headline net balance fell from +21 per cent previously to a reading of zero in the second quarter of the year. Declines were reported in the office and retail areas of the market but demand proved somewhat more resilient across the industrial sector. The regional breakdown shows the occupier demand gauge moderated across all parts of the country, although the shift was most noticeable in London. Alongside this, availability remains constricted, with the supply of leasable space more or less unchanged in the office and retail sectors during the second quarter, while industrial availability continued to decline.
Tags : INTERNATIONAL