Should the Commercial Property Sector be Worried About Brexit?

The impact of Brexit will not be uniform and there will be winners and losers, which as lawyers is something that we see every day. Below, Lawyer Monthly hears more on this from Archie Sherbrooke at Moore Blatch Solicitors.

I practice in the commercial property sector, which is an area that many people assume could be negatively impacted by Brexit. However, my personal view is that Brexit has created a set of circumstances that, rather than having a negative impact, has had a positive one with respect to commercial property investment, especially as a result of exchange rate movements.

This is supported by industry data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, which saw the UK commercial property market continue to grow in Q1 this year, both for rental incomes and capital value growth. This is the third consecutive quarter growth, all following the Brexit vote.

As a result of the falling pound commercial property, especially prime real estate in London and some of the UK’s major cities, has become extremely attractive and affordable to overseas investors. We have therefore seen an increase in instructions from overseas clients who are looking for long term investments and can see beyond any short-term volatility that Brexit may cause.

In addition, contrary to the purveyors of doom our economy is strong and continues to attract overseas investment. But, what is happening is that the dynamics of our industry is, and will continue, to change. For example, as the logistics industry evolves, serving our changing buying preferences, we are working on many more distribution hubs.

So professionally I see commercial property being a growth opportunity for lawyers working in this sector, as it’s based on fundamental economics that are not massively impacted by Brexit in the long term.