3 out of 4 respondents say there is likely to be an increase in firms looking to move from UK over next two years
Wednesday 2nd November 2016. A new commercial property survey shows there has been a substantial rise in queries to agents here from UK based firms looking to move from the UK, following the Brexit vote.
According to the Q3 Ireland Commercial Property Monitor 29% of respondents across Ireland say they have already seen such enquiries.
In addition almost three out of four respondents (73%) believe there is likely to be an increase in some firms looking to move from the UK over the next two years.
The Q3 Ireland Commercial Property Monitor was published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in conjunction with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).
Claire Solon, the President of the SCSI said Irish agents expect to see an encouraging level of capital value growth in most sectors over the next twelve months.
“The increase in enquires to agents here from firms looking to relocate from the UK is significant but it’s important to note that agents in Germany and Poland also recorded a similar increase while other countries such as Holland, Spain and France also saw a rise in queries. It’s clear that while Brexit may generate opportunities it will also generate stiff competition from fellow EU members.”
“Investment enquiries in Ireland continued to pick up across all sectors, with the retail segment seeing a resurgence in activity. However, foreign investment demand only increased fractionally for the second quarter in succession with the indicator softening considerably relative to twelve months ago. So there is an element of uncertainty out there.”
According to the recently published Finance Bill, the Minister for Finance plans to introduce a new regime to provide for the taxation of Irish Real Estate Funds, where a quarter of their value is derived directly from Irish real estate assets. Ms Solon said the move is likely to have some level of impact on property investment here.
“The detail and scope of this proposed legislation is yet to be fully determined. However while it will have some impact it is not expected to significantly dampen investment activity” she said.
The Monitor found that while investment sentiment dipped in London immediately after the EU referendum it appears to have settled down with the mood stabilising in Q3 while the expectations indicators point to little change in the foreseeable future.