Colin Wilson, Head of UK & Ireland, Cushman & Wakefield, said: “Whereas the Referendum result caught many people by surprise and created short-term turbulence in the market, everyone has now had time to get used to the well-signalled triggering of Article 50. While it is an important moment, it is an expected and largely symbolic act compared to firstly, the date two years from now when the 24-month window for negotiations concludes, and secondly, the many twists and turns that we can expect along the way. It is of more interest to me what that road map looks like.
“In the property industry, we know that transactions usually become more complicated the more parties there are at the table. The UK is in effect dealing with 27 member states whose interests do not necessarily align on every issue, while France and Germany have elections which could significantly alter the negotiation process. At this stage nothing is certain. As a result, caution is likely to remain a prevalent theme among investors and occupiers. That said, there remain many positive indicators of global and UK economic activity which are positively impacting UK real estate. In many respects we are seeing a bias towards ‘business as usual’, despite the Brexit backdrop which is encouraging.”