Irish ownership of West End retail property declines
New research into the London retail property market has found that ownership of West End retail property by Irish investors has declined dramatically over the last year, as an increasing number of investors choose to sell.
The research by commercial property advisers CBRE found that Irish investment in Central London retail property since 2009 has amounted to over £1.3 billion. However £1.2 billion of this investment consisted of property disposals.
Irish investors featured in 10 out of the 11 retail property investment transactions on Bond Street and four out of the eight transactions on Oxford Street in 2011. CBRE said this represented 94% of the total volumes transacted in 2011 across these locations, compared to 50% in 2010, and 38% in 2009.
A total of 11 of the 14 retail transactions undertaken by Irish investors on Bond Street and Oxford Street in 2011 were disposals, representing 90% of transactions in these locations. This compared to seven Irish disposals in 2010 (47%) and four disposals in 2009 (20%).
Never Miss a Retail Update!CBRE said its research showed that there are now less than 10 private Irish owners on Bond Street, accounting for 12% of total assets on the street. A similar trend has been established on Oxford Street where Irish investors own 13 properties and account for just 5% of the total ownership.
Phil Cann, executive director for Central London Retail at CBRE, said: “The West End retail properties sold by Irish investors in the last 18 months have been some of the most valuable in Central London. More often than not, the disposals are cross-collateralized with poorer performing assets within investor portfolios; however, these transactions should not undermine the impressive returns earned by investors in key London locations.”
