Past the eye of the storm
In the 22 months since we published our first Future Property report, the UK economic and commercial real estate sector picture has changed dramatically.
Driven by a surge in interest rates, the UK real estate sector has witnessed a rapid repricing, a significant transformation in how spaces are used and occupier demands, along with inflationary pressures not seen since the early ‘90s.
Executive summary
Our 2024 Future Property report makes for optimistic reading. We surveyed 110 high-net-worth individuals with a combined total net worth in excess of £6bn who are all investing in or developing UK real estate. Compared to our inaugural report in 2022, there is a clear sense of both growing optimism and activity levels. The higher interest rate environment of the last 18 months has failed to detract private client investors from increasing their exposure to UK real estate. Indeed, the UK remains a top destination for real estate capital and there is a sense of confidence that the macroeconomic picture will soon improve.
We conducted detailed interviews with four leading UK real estate entrepreneurs: Andy Woods, Investment Director at CEG; Gary Sacks, Chairman and CEO of City & Docklands; Henry Smith, Founder of Aitch Group and Tribe Student Housing; and Miheer Mehta, Founder of Sterling Rose Homes.
The views of our respondents echo what we are seeing in the market. According to Knight Frank1, private capital invested US$338bn globally into commercial real estate in 2023, which equates to 49% of total investment. This is slightly higher than the 48% reported in 2022 and the highest share on record.
Among our key findings from individuals in 2024 are:
64%
88%
81%
62%
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1 Navigating the recovery (knightfrank.com)
Research methodology
Research was conducted by FTI Consulting online from 2nd April to 6th April 2024, with n=110 high net worth individuals investing (n=55) or developing (n=55) real estate in the UK, with a combined total net worth in excess of £6bn. The previous edition of this research was conducted from 28th February to 12th March 2022 with the same number of respondents.
The convention on rounding was followed, so sums may not always add up to 100%. For more information on the research methodology please contact: StratCommResearchEMEA@fticonsulting.com.
Contact us
Shivani Goolab
Head of Private Client Real Estate