Effects of the low sterling

The low sterling effect on the investment market comes in two waves: investors living in the UK or already investing in the UK are unwilling to take their money abroad and are therefore keeping their cash in the UK property market, or overseas investors are seeing the opportunity to get into the London market at a much lower level than 12 months ago.

This trend can be seen in recent letting figures, which show that Chinese investors made up 96% of West End investments in January. In fact, in January 2017 alone, there has already been the equivalent of 80% of the foreign investment seen in 2016.

Eugene O’Sullivan an experienced Chartered Surveyor at Morgan Pryce, says: “The rush of foreign investment does not seem to be pushing up rental prices at this point, as they are continuing to stay stable in the West End.”

Since the last quarter of 2016, rental prices in the core West End have remained around the £65 per sq ft – £110 per sq ft mark, depending on the specification and if the property is in Mayfair or Soho.

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.