Cardiff: An investor’s view
Cardiff’s capital market has enjoyed a prolific era of regeneration, with each project contributing to the city’s built environment quality and competitive edge. But does the Welsh capital now offer a product and growth potential that steals investor capital from competing hotspots across the globe?
2 minutes to read
Cardiff is a dynamic and vibrant city, capable of catering to today’s lifestyle and working habits. While the city is already an attractive opportunity for investors, further regeneration incentives plan to bolster the city’s potential. At this stage of the global cycle, yields on traditional commercial assets are low, yet creative ventures in emerging locations may prove to be a worthwhile option.
Cardiff is high on many global investors’ shopping lists – and this comes as no surprise. Those who make the right property investment choices in the city can achieve returns ahead of the market average.
As Matt Phillips, Partner, Office Head of Cardiff Commercial, explains in The Cardiff Report: “The reason why Cardiff is high on many global investors’ shopping lists is its ever-growing profile and quality of life offered… It has wonderful history, first-class higher education facilities, a burgeoning tourist industry and now it is rapidly becoming a significant technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) hub.”
Notably, it is currently in the process of establishing itself as a thriving technology ecosystem and has been identified as one of the 13 fastest growing tech clusters, surpassing £1 billion.
In 2018, Cardiff ranked as the second highest city for attracting and retaining talent, after London and ahead of Birmingham. It boasts a pioneering start-up community, and it can expect a further injection of expansion-led demand from SMEs.
The Cardiff Report offers a detailed account of the city’s current value and future potential, with a unique focus on how the city can progress through strong partnerships, sustained retention of talent and improved connectivity – both physical and digital – to provide investors with the chance to capitalise on this growth.
William Matthews, Partner, Head of Commercial Research, echoes this sentiment in explaining: “Yields on traditional commercial assets are at very, very low levels. And therefore, investors that want to generate higher returns have to think about different options… A different approach that investors can take is to try to identify emerging new locations in the existing core cities. Often these locations will be ones that are benefiting from improving transport infrastructure links and general redevelopment.”
Phillips continued: “Without the delivery of the comprehensive transport system, opportunities to grow the strategic employment areas will be hindered. Central and local government working with transport providers must take a holistic view and action to ensure the future vision of the city region is realised.”
Read the full Cardiff Report 2019 to get the full picture.