Yorkshire attracts £407m Q4 investment to close best year since recession

Strong investment volumes across Yorkshire in the last quarter of 2018 propelled the region to its strongest year since the recession.

Q4 saw £407.3m invested in Yorkshire to bring the total for the year to £1.9bn, according to data from Lambert Smith Hampton’s (LSH) latest UK Investment Transactions (UKIT) report.

Although the Q4 figure was down 27% on Q3 (£557.3m), the actual number of deals in the quarter represented a like-for-like uptick of 34%.

But the average size of transactions fell between the two quarters, dropping from £15m in Q3 to £9.9m in Q4.

According to LSH, it reflects investor caution as the Brexit deadline looms – a hesitancy that is forecast to deepen during Q1 before recovering later in 2019.

The total investment volume for 2018 marked a year-on-year increase of 44%.

Large transactions in the three months to December 31 included Cassidy Group’s £84m acquisition of the Pennine Centre in Sheffield; Aberdeen Standard Investments’ £38m disposal of a 415,000 sq ft warehouse at First Point Logistics Park, Doncaster; Aviva Investors’ £32m purchase of 1 City Square in Leeds; and LSH’s £26.5m swoop, on behalf of Hillview Real Estate, for Lawnswood Business Park in north Leeds.

Luke Symonds, LSH’s head of capital markets for Yorkshire and the North East, said of the findings: “2018’s performance shows that despite on-going political and economic uncertainty, Yorkshire is a very resilient market.

“It is telling that UK buyers rather than overseas investors have driven volume, where sterling weakness could be seen by many as a buying opportunity for foreign wealth.”

He continued: “Looking ahead, we expect subdued activity in the next quarter as investors wait for clarity on the nature of our exit from the EU. However, volumes are likely to bounce back later in the year.”