INVESTMENT in Scotland’s real estate sector increased considerably in the first six months of the year despite sharp falls across the rest of the UK, according to research from global property advisor JLL.
JLL’s research showed the Scottish property market attracted £770m of investment in H1, a 4% increase on its 10-year average trend and a 30% increase on the corresponding period in 2023.
Scotland bucked the trend seen elsewhere across the UK. The country as a whole saw a 25% dip in investment in the first six months of the year when compared to the 10-year average.
London saw a 46% fall in investment but still outstripped other regions by attracting £3.5bn. Greater London (£2.8bn), the South East (£2bn), the North West (£970m) and Scotland (£770m) made up the rest of the top five for investment volumes.
JLL’s research showed investment in the country’s property sector reached £16.2bn in H1, down on the 10-year average of £21.5bn but in line with figures seen in H1 2023. Although headline volumes remained a little subdued throughout the first half of the year, overall volumes including M&A, land and development investment increased 12% year-on-year to £22.6bn.
The data also shows international investors remaining active in the UK, accounting for 52% of the total in H1 and reaffirming confidence in the UK real estate market.
Elsewhere, the living sector, which includes all segments of the residential market including student accommodation and retirement homes, maintained demand attracting the largest proportion of investment for the third quarter running. JLL’s research showed it attracted £4.8bn in investment, accounting for a 30% share of the market. This trend was reflected in Scotland, with investment in the living sector accounting for 27% of total volumes in H1.
Calum Cowe, Capital Markets Director at JLL, said: “While it’s not been the easiest start to the year from either a political or economic perspective, Scotland continues to show its attractiveness to investors.
“With the recent interest rate cut and growing optimism in the health of the wider economy, we expect to see healthy levels of deal activity in the Scottish market. Investment in the office sector in particular is beginning to show signs of recovery with a number of key deals taking place in both Glasgow and Edinburgh in the first 6 months of the year.
“We are also encouraged by the increasing depth of the buyer pool in Scotland. International investors have historically accounted for the lions share of volumes over the last few years in the market. However, we have also seen increasing appetite from UK institutions and private investors in the past 12 months. We are therefore optimistic that this improved deal flow will continue for the remainder of the year and into 2025.”
