52% of UK & Irish real estate leaders prefer to remain in EU

GRI Barometer survey finds 38.7% are in favour of a negotiated Brexit; other 9.7% see a ‘no deal’ Brexit as acceptable.

February 20, 2019Real Estate
A GRI Barometer survey of the real estate industry’s leadership in the UK & Ireland, run in early February 2019, posed the question: ‘Amid the current uncertainty surrounding Brexit, which outcome would you prefer or find acceptable?’

Respondents to the survey represent a full range of investors, fund managers and developers at the most senior levels, including chairmen, CEOs, partners, managing partners and managing directors, all of whom invest in or have operations in either the UK or Ireland, or both.

Offered the choice of three outcomes, a majority of respondents (51.6%) indicated that they would prefer the UK to remain in the EU, 38.7% selected that they would prefer or find acceptable a negotiated Brexit, while 9.7% opted for a ‘no deal’ Brexit as their preferred or acceptable outcome. 

GRI Barometer surveys are designed to gauge industry sentiment towards national economies and real estate markets in which the GRI Club is present. This is the first time that GRI Club members and market participants in the UK & Ireland have been surveyed.



Opportunities outside of London

London, as a city, dominates real estate markets across the UK and Ireland. However, survey respondents were asked the question: ‘Which UK and Ireland cities outside of London present the most promising real estate opportunities in the coming 12 months?’.

Offered a list of likely cities, respondents ranked Birmingham first. Manchester came a close second, followed in order by Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Sheffield.

UK vs Ireland

Respondents appear far more bullish about Ireland than the UK: in the UK, given the current business environment, 53.6% of respondents say that their companies are observing or waiting to make decisions about investments and business expansion, while in Ireland, 84% say that their companies are investing or expanding their business. There is also a notable divergence in opinion on how the real estate market in each country is expected to perform:  in the case of the UK, 43.9% of respondents say ‘OK’ and 45.6% say ‘poorly’, while in the case of Ireland 57.7% says ‘OK’ and 42.3% say ‘well’.

The UK and Ireland’s real estate markets will be discussed further at British & Irish GRI 2019 on 15-16 May in London.