When looking for a place to invest, the United Kingdom is an increasingly attractive place for worldwide investors. There are four main motivations for investors to purchase property in the United Kingdom: investment, life, immigration and education.
Without taking into account the mega €12.25bn China Investment Corporation mega-deal to buy Blackstone’s Logicor, total Chinese investment in UK property was more than £10bn in 2017, more than double the amount in 2016.
The Emerging Trends in Real Estate in Europe 2018 report, released by the Urban Land Association, conducted 516 questionnaires to real estate companies in 22 European countries and regions, including 306 in-depth interviews with industry leaders. It then analysed the real estate investment and development expectations in 31 European cities in 2018.
Almost half of respondents expect economic growth to improve over the next five years, leading to better prospects for property investment in most European cities. Sixty-five percent of respondents believe the return on investment in European real estate will be higher in 2018 than in 2017, and 79 percent expect European property returns to be as high as 5-20 percent or more.
Additionally, foreign investors are buying up UK real estate because of the country’s strong economy, stable market and cultural and educational advantages. Even after leaving the EU, Britain is still the economic centre of Europe. Nevertheless, its economic development level, infrastructure construction and educational levels are ranked among the top in the world.