The UK property market has been an appealing option for overseas investors thanks to the combination of its potential for strong returns, advantageous exchange rates and relative stability even in times of economic uncertainty.
Since 2006, GRE Assets has worked with clients to provide investment opportunities across the UK’s top regional hotspots and offer a full range of portfolio services including asset management, tax advice and legal services. The company has built a reputation for identifying the right locations at the right time to ensure capital growth and returns.
International investment plays a vital role in supporting both economic and property market growth and in this blog post we will be exploring why.
Predicted growth of international investment
Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2021 forecast that ‘large, relatively liquid, transparent markets with a favourable legal system should continue to attract global private capital.’ It also identified the UK as one of the countries it would expect to see growth in international real estate investment in 2021.
In its ‘Five for 2022’ report, Savills conducted research across its global network to explore what investment will look like in 2022. Not only does it ‘point to the resilience of real estate in an era of accelerated change and evolution, rather than revolution, in the wake of the pandemic’, it also predicts the rise of international investment. In line with Covid-19 restrictions easing further, Savills expects on average, 47% of all investment to come from international investors in 2022, which mirrors the predictions of Knight Frank.
Why is it important?
As we previously explained in our Spring outlook on UK property blog, one of the greatest concerns in the UK property market right now is that housing demand is currently outstripping supply. As Property Notify explains in a recent article ‘overseas investment is needed to help the city’s chances of building the necessary number of homes to match the current demand and keep housing costs affordable.’
There are further indirect benefits as it not only supports the construction sector but also often with international investment is company expansion and job creation. Peterborough is a great case study for this as it has created an ecosystem for regeneration and inward investment to the benefit of local people and the economy.
History repeating itself
Recent history has shown that following times of economic instability international investment is key in reinvigorating the property market. This is something that GRE Assets has direct experience of, as in terms of strategy, the company has held firm to its focus on development sites in regeneration hotspots within the commuting orbit of London; in key locations that are attractive in price and lifestyle to young professionals.
This is a strategy that has proven to weather times of uncertainty, for our Olympic Apartments project in Stratford generated 37% capital growth in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Faith from overseas investors in the UK property market has paid off both in terms of their returns on investment and supporting economic recovery. We would expect a similar narrative in terms of international investment as we emerge out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
GRE Assets has been delivering high quality, well connected homes in the UK and Spain since 2006.
