An increasing number of banks have been prepared to lend money to fund large UK real estate purchases in the last six months, City AM has reported. According to property advisor Savills, at least 12 banks have leant at least GBP 100 million over the period.
Of those 12, nine of the lenders are based in Germany. Only Barclays, RBS and Santander stand out as non-German large property lenders, Savills added.
The company said that, at present, the transaction markets are being dominated by big "equity players" which has lead to a lack of major opportunities for lenders.
Head of UK valuation William Newsom said: "In the commercial property investment market there has been a reduced volume of properties coming to the market, and often those prime assets that lenders would like to lend against are being snapped up by non-debt-backed purchasers."
The news comes after Aberdeen Asset Management predicted that the asset class is set to do well in the coming months, with real estate funds recovering well within the past year.