Bristol in top 60 innovation-led cities in the world for property investors

Steve Oades, head of capital markets at the Knight Frank Bristol office

New property investment research reveals Bristol is one of the top five innovation-led cities in the UK – and in the top 60 across the world.

Global property consultancy Knight Frank’s Active Capital 2020 report examined almost 300 innovation-led global cities to determine which lead innovation and growth, and therefore offer the greatest prospects for resilience for commercial real estate investors.

The research shows that in the UK only London, Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh ranked higher than Bristol.

Recent events have seen real estate investors increasingly position for resilience. This includes identifying assets which are able to sustain tenant demand and support rents, underpinning capital values and ultimately returns, as well as assets which are best placed to weather shocks and benefit from the recovery and wider structural changes.

Steve Oades, head of capital markets at the Knight Frank Bristol office, commented: ”While we are clearly in a period of heightened uncertainty, large pools of capital still need to be deployed, driven by the search for income and yield. Investors are of course being ever more forensic in their decision-making with very clear sector winners and losers apparent to all.

“To be ranked in the top 60 cities across the world Bristol is demonstrating how well it brings together the ingredients required to attract global property investment.”

Will Matthews, head of commercial research, Knight Frank commented: “At a time of heightened uncertainty in the wider economic and geopolitical context, the security of real estate income will remain a compelling attraction for investors. What’s more, as the pandemic forces the rise of localism in domestic economies, there will be even more reason for investors to seek the benefits of true diversification via cross-border acquisitions.”