Council investment tops £4.6bn since 2013

Council investment into UK commercial property shows no sign of slowing down, peaking at £1.7bn last year, according to Radius Data Exchange. This high means that since 2013 local authority spending across all property sectors has topped £4.6bn, with more than £1bn being invested in 2018 to date. Overall councils have invested £1.6bn into retail and leisure and £2.2bn into offices. Spelthorne Borough Council has been the most active buyer, investing £662m over the past five years, while Surrey County Council has chimed in with 12 separate deals, making it the most active in terms of number of acquisitions. The amount spent by councils investing into councils outside their own jurisdiction has increased year-on-year, more than tripling from £90m in 2016 to £344m in 2017 and already standing at £239m as of September 2018. With local authority investment in 2018 already reaching £1.04bn, only slightly behind the equivalent period last year at £1.3bn, this looks set to be another bumper year. To send feedback, e-mail james.child@egi.co.uk or tweet @JamesChildEG or @estatesgazette