A survey carried out by alternative real estate investment platform ASK Partners among 250 high net worth real estate investors and private family offices shows that there is no slowdown in the UK real estate market.
ASK’s mostly UK-based investors are seeking to increase investments in real estate by 25%, on average, in the next 12 months, while 86% have increased or maintained their investments on the same level in the last 12 months.
Concerns over rising inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical risks are potentially outweighed by the fact that real estate has had a good performance, especially individual portfolios.
Some investors are moving away from higher risk opportunities, with a trend towards lower risk strategies, such as shorter term, first charge loans.
Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK commented: ‘The investors we surveyed are clearly showing a strong appetite for real estate, despite the current economic climate. In times of volatility and particularly high inflation, investors have traditionally turned to real estate as an asset class, and we are pleased to be able to continue to offer attractive real estate debt opportunities on our platform. We were delighted to see an increase in the importance of sustainability in investors' decision making and as a result environmental concerns will become a more significant part of our evaluation process.’
Doug King, COO and co-founder commented: ‘This is a positive reflection of the strength of the UK real estate market and it is not surprising to see a greater preference for residential and logistics given their resilience during the pandemic. A clear appetite for a fund creates an exciting opportunity for us to seek out more value-add opportunities across sectors and throughout the UK and, without compromising our robust credit processes, continue to provide the diversity of loans and above-average risk-adjusted returns to meet the varied risk appetites and preferences of our growing investor base."
Sustainability is increasingly an important factor, with 41% of investors claiming they already or will factor it into investment decisions.
ASK investors select investment opportunities in the UK, with an overall preference for residential property followed by warehousing and logistics.
ASK has provided over £900 mln (€1.07 bn) in investment opportunities across more than 90 transactions.
