THE senior partner of a Glasgow-based law firm is predicting that more of Scotland’s property assets will be snapped up by private investors after Greenridge Investment Management bought an NHS building in Edinburgh on behalf of Middle Eastern investors.
Howard Beach, the senior partner of Leslie Wolfson Solicitors, advised the sellers on the deal, which saw a group of Manchester-based private clients offload 1 South Gyle Crescent for £48.3 million.
The building, which is fully let until June 2029, is currently occupied by NHS National Services Scotland.
Mr Beach, who noted that a shopping centre in East Kilbride is likely to come on the market in the coming weeks, said more deals of this kind will follow because more mainstream property funds are turning off the Scottish market due to uncertainty over the country’s future in the UK.
“There’s a bunch of funds that are just not looking to invest in Scotland any more,” he said.
“They are frightened of Scotland because of the machinations of [SNP leader and First Minister] Nicola Sturgeon – she is spooking the market [by talking about a second independence referendum].
“While they are eschewing Scotland because of a fear of what’s going on in politics, private investors are getting a bit of a clear run at it.”
Although the 1 South Gyle Crescent investment was made by Greenridge, the investors behind are based offshore.
Despite the interest from such investors, lawyers at HBJ Gateley and Burness Paull warned earlier this week that the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 could put some investors off the Scottish property market because it is seeking to create a register of so-called ‘persons of controlling interests’.
The changes are being brought in to make it clear who owns and controls the land in Scotland, but concerns have been raised that some ultra-high net worth individuals may not want their investment holdings made public.
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