Post-Brexit property investment ‘remains robust’

According to the Move Channel Investment activity in the North West property market saw an upturn last quarter despite Britain voting to leave the European Union, new figures have shown.

Lambert Smith Hampton’s (LSH) quarterly UK Investment Transactions report suggests Q2 investment rose by 42% to ￡501 million, compared to ￡353m this time last year.

The study, however, also indicates that investors are switching their focus to defensive assets to counter the volatility in the market.

Abid Jaffry, heads of the northern capital markets team at LSH, says: “It is a surprising result and we need to treat the increase in the context of just one quarter and a couple of large acquisitions which can skew the figures somewhat.

“There’s no doubt that the Brexit result has had an effect on the investment market with a downturn in pricing, but the amounts feel like a pricing correction rather than the wide scale adverse price drops predicted, which should give investors confidence.

“Sales of assets in the regions by some of the retail funds have, by and large, transacted or surpassed book values. It has therefore been somewhat of a false dawn for some of the equity houses that anticipated significant price drops”.

Jaffry admits there is still “economic uncertainty” in the wake of Brexit, but claims that a combination of low interest rates and an attractive exchange rate are stimulating investor appetite in the North West.

North Point Global has several projects in Liverpool & Manchester with guaranteed rental returns from 1-5 years with prices starting from ￡80k.