Investment in Scottish commercial property by UK investors has
declined sharply this year, following on from the record levels
seen in 2014.  Interestingly, investment from foreigners has
also fallen, but by much less, according to new data from property
company Savills.

Between January and August this year, UK investors put £800m
into Scottish commercial property, a substantial decrease from the
£12.bn invested in the same period during 2014.  Non-UK
investors spent £526m, a much smaller fall from the previous year's
£548m.

Alasdair Humphery, Edinburgh-based director for property group
JLL, said:

'Independence is back on the agenda...and you do detect a degree
of angst from some of the London-based investors.'

'For international investors, Scottish independence is just a
blip on a global horizon.'

Of the total £13.bn invested in individual property deals, 40
per cent in total came from international investors, which is well
above the 29 per cent share recorded for the period during
2014.

General uncertainty about Scotland's future has been fuelled by
the re-emergence of the Scottish National Party since it was
defeated in last year's independence referendum:

Mat Oakley, director of European commercial research for
Savills, said:

"Some non-domestic investors are clearly less concerned by the
constitutional issues than some domestic investors.'

Mr Oakley did note that there were other factors at play, with a
similar declining in north-west England as a result of an unusually
large amount of properties being made available for sale.

'These markets are driven by availability of stock' Mr Oakley
noted.

The SNP is on course for a landslide victory in the May Scottish
Parliamentary Elections in May, and is currently holding open the
possibility for pushing another independence vote during the next
few years.

It's worth noting that although domestic investment is down,
it's still likely to be above the average of the past six years,
according to Savills.

Yields for Scottish properties were 25-50 basis points higher
than in equivalent English cities.  Even if Scotland did move
towards independence, companies would still need to invest in real
estate.

Savills is expected international investment in UK property
outside London to reach a figure of around £14bn this year, which
will be the highest since it started collecting data in 2000.

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