The spring 2019 edition of the bi-annual London Development Barometer (LDB) survey by M3 Consulting found that almost six out of 10 respondents felt that the ongoing uncertainty would have a negative impact.

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•   Completion times for development finance increases to 8.8 weeks

Other highlights from M3 Consulting’s survey included:

• 52% predicted that changes to the global economy would have a negative impact on development activity in the next five years — compared to 42% just six months ago
• in terms of foreign investment levels, 64% predicted that it would stay the same or increase after Brexit — up 13 percentage points on six months ago
• 43% believed that London development activity would decrease over the next five years
• 65% of the respondents thought that development finance would become more expensive — compared with the 75% recorded six months ago
   

“The industry has braced itself for increases in both construction and financing costs for some time,” said Gavin Kieran, director at M3 Consulting.

“These concerns have to a certain degree been offset by strong demand for London properties as well as a surprisingly steady, increasingly diversified stream of investment.”