Prolonged Brexit concerns will eclipse UK investment, says Savills

Savills has warned that protracted negotiations over Brexit will continue to overshadow the investment market in the UK, despite “significant” demand from investors. Ahead of its AGM this afternoon (8 May), Savills said that “commercial transaction activity in the next few months may continue to be overshadowed by the prolonged uncertainty over Brexit, the exact impact of which is difficult to determine at present”. The firm said that, while the central London market in particular has proved resilient in the year to date, volumes across the UK have declined and development activity has been relatively subdued. However, it remained upbeat that there will be “some strengthening of activity in certain overseas markets”. Savills stated: “Despite a greater weighting towards H2 than last year, we continue to anticipate overall performance for 2019 to be in line with our expectations.” The firm noted that, in the UK, trading has been largely resilient despite political uncertainty, buoyed by a “healthy increase in indicators” in its residential transaction business. It also pointed to “strong double-digit increases” in new buyers registered, and year-on-year revenue growth in the central London market. To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette