UK commercial property investment activity reached £9.8bn in Q3 2025, a 2% fall quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, according to the latest data from Carter Jonas.
Alternative assets accounted for 46% of total UK investment activity – 14% above their five-year average. Industrial investment activity totalled approximately £2.1bn – down 7% quarter-on-quarter. Office investment fell sharply to £1.7bn and retail volumes declined to £1.5bn.
Approximately 23% of all investment occurred in London (excluding multi-regional portfolios), below both the five-year average of 35% and the 41% recorded in Q1 2025.
Overseas investors – who accounted for 57% of London’s total – continued to favour offices and alternative assets, deploying £4.3bn in Q3. US investors accounted for £1.8bn and Canadian and European groups were also active in the quarter.
Ali Rana, head of national investment at Carter Jonas, said: “Concerns surrounding the forthcoming November Budget are dampening transaction activity. Uncertainty over potential tax changes and business rates reform is prompting some investors to delay decisions until policy clarity emerges. Nonetheless, stabilising rental performance and improving yield dynamics are providing encouraging signs for 2026.”
Rad Radev, associate researcher at Carter Jonas, added: “With interest rate expectations becoming more predictable and inflation appearing to have peaked, reduced development pipelines are helping to underpin a gradual recovery in investment activity next year, particularly in prime industrial assets and offices suited to refurbishment, repositioning or conversion to alternative uses.”