£920m invested in Yorkshire and Humber commercial property sector in Q3

Investment in the commercial property sector in Yorkshire and Humber reached £920m during the third quarter of 2015 – two and half times more than the same quarter last year, according to new research by commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).

LSH’s UK Investment Transactions (UKIT) report reveals that investment volume in the region for Q3 2015 is almost 10% higher than the previous record of £841m in Q4 2014.

At £431m, the retail sector accounted for 47% of the total volume invested, with key deals including Legal & General Property’s acquisition of Meadowhall Retail Park in Sheffield for £39.5m and BMO Real Estate Partners’ acquisition of Parkgate Retail Park in Rotherham for £175m.

Industrial and logistics accounted for 19% at £176.5m, the office sector accounted for 12% at £114.9m, while total investments in other markets was at £197.3m (21%) including Kames Capital’s acquisition of Ventana House at Sheffield Digital Campus for £14m.

Bill Lynn, director of capital markets across Yorkshire and the North East at LSH, said: “With the average deal in Q3 2015 being £22.4m, compared with £11.4m in Q3 2014, the figures for Yorkshire and Humberside are encouraging.

“Firstly, volumes are at virtually unprecedented levels confirming what we all know as an increasingly bullish market. Secondly the comeback of retail as a sector now showing the highest volume of deals and thirdly that overwhelmingly the biggest buying sector was UK investors.”

As for the whole of the UK, investment in the commercial property sector during the third quarter of 2015 reach £12.8bn, according to the UKIT report.

Although this shows a 23% decline on the previous quarter, and is the third successive quarter in which volumes have fallen, investment for 2015 could potentially surpass the record of £61.7bn set last year.

Investment for the year to date currently stands at £48.5bn.

In addition, the report reveals that investment volume in the UK regions during Q3 eclipsed that in London for the first time in 12 months and that UK institutions were net dis-investors in commercial property for the first time in Q3 since mid-2012.

Ezra Nahome, CEO of Lambert Smith Hampton, added: “London continues to perform strongly and will remain the most important market for overseas investors. However, it’s encouraging to see capital flowing back into the regions in a meaningful way as investors rebalance their portfolios in response to improving confidence and the price of assets in London.”