Kuwaitis Have Invested £117.5mn in London Office Properties Since 2018

Data from the global real estate consultancy Knight Frank showed that Arab investments including Kuwaitis in the London office property market have reached nearly £1.2bn since 2018.

According to the “Arab News” website, the company revealed that between 2010 and 2020, the Gulf States, excluding Oman, invested £8.1bn in the London office market, of which £1.1bn has been invested since 2018. According to the company’s report, Emirati investors have been the most active since 2018, injecting £540.8mn into the British capital, followed by Qatari investors with £443mn, the Kuwaitis with £122mn, Saudi investors with nearly £105mn, and Bahrainis with almost £9mn.

Faisal Durrani, Knight Frank’s head of business research in London, explained that Britain’s exit from the European Union was not a major problem. He said most investors looking to the London office market invest there because of London’s attractiveness as an investment destination, with relatively more favourable returns than other asset classes.

On the other hand, Durrani stated that the coronavirus crisis was an important factor in changing the rules of the game, particularly the impact of global travel restrictions, which significantly reduced investment turnover during the UK’s first shutdown last spring. He believes Arab investment in Britain will return to normal, and a slowdown in investment during the pandemic will see an increase in the available supply.