Rhys James, Head of the Cardiff Office of Cushman & Wakefield responds to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement:
“The property sector in South Wales has continued to deliver over recent years and has remained remarkably resilient since the EU referendum. The most important challenge for the Chancellor was to maintain the confidence of investors, including property investors – especially given on-going economic uncertainties into 2017.
“The commitment to support affordable housing and transport infrastructure is to be welcomed – although we now need to understand how the cake will be carved up to benefit Wales and to ensure that we get our ‘fair share’ of that cake. A co-operative and beneficial working relationship between the Welsh Government in Cardiff Bay and the Treasury in Westminster will be hugely important for businesses in Wales in the months ahead. New funding needs to bring quick results to underpin economic growth. The Government needs to back places that can deliver and for this reason the City Regions of south west and south east Wales should be at the front of the queue for investment in the short and medium term futures.”