Second chances: Leveraging property market optimism

There is growing optimism in the UK property market. Bank deleveraging is still occurring but some non-bank lenders are stepping in to provide finance, so activity is increasing. Meanwhile, the domestic economic recovery is encouraging buyers to rebuild their UK property portfolios. We see particular opportunities outside the ‘prime’ areas of the market in higher yielding ‘secondary’ property. The past six years have not been particularly kind to property investors. The global financial crisis hit commercial property hard and, although there was a spike in property returns in 2009, th...