On the anniversary of what was the first lockdown for the UK, the Research team revisit some of the headlines and predictions that were made during what was a difficult year to forecast and assess whether the world we live, work and shop in has truly changed.
The report is broken down by sector, here are some of the headlines:
Economy
- ‘UK economy will be the hardest hit.’
- ‘COVID-19 will change the structure of the economy.’
- ‘The UK is headed towards an era of Japanification.’
Capital Markets
- ‘Investment activity will fall to levels not seen since the financial crisis.’
- ‘Despite challenging leasing markets, prime yields will remain stable.
Offices
- ‘COVID-19 will mark the end of offices’
- ‘Office rents expected to decline sharply as COVID-19 reality bites.’
Retail
- ‘Bricks-and-Mortar has no relevance in today’s world.’
- ‘COVID-19 will bring an end to retail empires.’
Logistics
- ‘Reliance on e-commerce will drive a rapid race for space.’
- ‘Logistics are the next offices.’
Alternatives
- ‘The Hotels sector will take years to recover from the COVID-19 hit.’
- ‘There will be a large fall in demand from international students for UK higher education.’
- ‘The pandemic will slow growth in the BTR sector.’
Residential
- ‘UK housing market looks set for a downturn as uncertainty over economy rises.’
- ‘More demand for suburban locations versus small inner-city apartments.’
Rural
- ‘Businesses operating from rural premises asked for rent reductions or holidays.’
- ‘Risk of food shortages due to COVID-19 have increased.’
- ‘Pick for Britain will reduce reliance on overseas workers.’
ESG
- ‘COVID-19 is the first sustainability crisis, and it will cause ESG to simply fade away.’
- ‘COVID-19 will hamper the progression made on social issues.’
- ‘The cost of ESG has increased, far outweighing the value.’
Click to read Unmasking the true impacts of COVID-19 on UK real estate
