Political uncertainty notwithstanding, Brexit makes UK top pick for European investors

London, Nov 19: The United Kingdom (UK) might be struggling to cope with the realities of Brexit but outsiders are sensing a golden opportunity in the political development.

According to a Knight Frank survey of executives who are in control of real estate business worth over 500 billion pounds ($640 billion), Britain after Brexit will be the top destination for major investors from Europe who are eyeing commercial property next year, Bloomberg reported.

More than a fifth of those who the survey covered said the UK would be their top investment destination and the preference was 12 per cent higher than the previous year when Germany was the top choice. The survey covered 155 investors.

"Prices for the best U.K. real estate have been mostly stable since the Brexit vote in 2016. As a result, Britain has become cheaper than markets like France and Germany, where returns have shrunk in recent years as buyers have piled in. That, coupled with the impact of a weak pound -- making investments cheaper for foreign buyers -- has helped the U.K. market stay remarkably resilient in the face of prolonged political and economic uncertainty," the Bloomberg report said.

Chris Bell, Europe managing director at Knight Frank said the emergence of the UK as the European market of choice in 2019 is interesting.

While over 21 per cent of the European investors picked the UK as their top destination in 2019, the Nordics countries were second with 17.8 per cent and Benelux 14.4 per cent. Germany (12.2 per cent), France (11.1 per cent) and Spain (7.8 per cent) followed.