Flying start for region's investment deals

Commercial property deals worth £411m were completed, up 27 per cent on the same period in 2017, according to Lambert Smith Hampton’s latest UK Investment Transactions (UKIT) report.

The total number of deals was also 48 per cent above the same period in 2017, albeit the average deal size fell from £9.8m to £8.4m.

Interest in Yorkshire’s industrial sector rebounded from the somewhat muted Q4 2017, with £121.6m worth of industrial deals in the first quarter, underpinned by Columbia Threadneedle’s purchase of the Network North portfolio for £41.9m.

The office sector, at £103m, saw its second strongest quarter in two years. Deals included the £37.2m acquisition of 6 Queen Street in Leeds and the purchase of 3 St Paul’s Place in Sheffield for £24m.

Strong investment into alternative asset classes, including the private rented sector (PRS), student accommodation and hotels and leisure, also continued, the report said. With a volume of just under £100m, the sector was 44 per cent above the same period in 2017.

Just £87.3m worth of retail deals crossed the line, almost half the volume transacted in Q1 2017.

Luke Symonds, Capital Markets - Yorkshire, said: “Yorkshire’s commercial property investment market has had a flying start to 2018, with volumes returning to pre-EU Referendum levels and the reappearance of several big ticket deals in the industrial and office sectors.”