Nadim Mansour (left), Managing Director of International Investments and Ian Plumley, Senior Vice-President Mea & India at Berkeley Group, during Cityscape Qatar 2021, in Doha, recently.
The UK, which has long been dubbed as a second home by many Qataris with posh residential properties in its prime real estate markets, is seeing a new generation of ‘entrepreneurial’ individual investors from Qatar who are now also going for the commercial properties, according to market experts.
To date, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has over $53.3bn worth of investments in the UK. The UK market is also a preferred destination by many individual Qatari investors, mainly for its residential properties. However, a new trend is emerging with many younger and middle-class Qataris now also acquiring properties in the UK for commercial purposes.
In an interview with The Peninsula recently, Nadim Mansour, Managing Director of International Investments, said the Doha-based company which specialises in UK properties, is seeing a new generation of Qatari investors in the UK realty market.
He said: “We have two generations that are buying from us. The new generation of Qatari investors has different strategies and agenda. In the past, it was rare to find people asking for a commercial or retail space. The new generation is asking for that. And that rings a bell for me. It’s not always just about acquiring posh residential properties anymore. They are starting to think about the cash flow. I’m talking about younger Qatari investors in their 30s who now also consider renting out their properties”.
Ian Plumley, Senior Vice-President Mea & India at Berkeley Group added: “There seems to be a demand from the younger generation. I’ve seen some old familiar faces which is great to see, but there’s a lot of new younger faces and they’re asking quite telling questions. And we got people asking for retail or commercial spaces, maybe for coffee shop or restaurant. That puts them in a different category, because now they’re owners of businesses as well as the properties themselves”.
At the recent Cityscape Qatar 2021, International Investments hosted Berkeley Group, a leading property developer in the UK, in its booth.
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Just a few minutes after the opening of the expo, Mansour said his company had already closed three deals worth £1.5m, which included a retail café and two apartment units in Birmingham, Midlands, in the UK.
“The deals we’re discussing now are still mostly residential. But we’re also surprised with some entities joining forces with us. Sites have been requested and lands with planning permission in London and the Midlands. And these are requests for Qatari investors who want to invest in development and their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). And we’re finding the right partnerships to present for these investors,” said Mansour.
He added: “Qataris buy properties in the UK mainly either for usage or investments, and as safe haven for asset security. The UK will always be the number one choice for investors. The country is a straightforward market led by demand and supply, rather than a monopolised market. And that is a key factor for investors’ appetite”.
According to Plumley, the Brexit has not deterred Qatari investors from investing in the UK realty market. He said: “At the beginning of Brexit, it probably did make people a little bit nervous. They took their foot off the gas a little bit to slow down. But the market is very mature. Also, London has doubled the value of its properties every 10 or 12 years since the end of the second World War in the 1940s. And that’s a mature market. The Qatari government has invested in the UK, and the rest of the people follow that pattern.
“Also, the UK has undoubtedly been quite over the COVID-19 period. We see a great deal of interest, particularly from Qatar. There’s an appetite, and we’re seeing that pent-up demand now being released. It has been happening only recently, and we see that continuing into November, and next year,” he added.
