The sponsors and author of the UK’s De Montfort real estate lending survey are close to agreeing a new home for the report which would also facilitate expansion of the research into other European markets.
The De Montfort University Commercial Property Lending Report is the most comprehensive survey of UK property lending, and it is relied on by the government and regulators as well as real estate market participants, including the 80 or so banks and non-bank lenders which submit data.
Talks are at an advanced stage with a new institution, believed to be Cass Business School at City University in London, to take over the report shortly. It is understood that the next annual survey, due at the end of April 2018, is likely to be jointly branded under both universities.
One of the consequences of the move is that there will be more resources for real estate lending research, with debut reports planned for the French and Spanish lending markets.
De Montfort University is relinquishing the survey because it has not had a real estate department for some years.
The author until his retirement in 2016 was Bill Maxted, who headed the DMU real estate department in the past before it closed, but latterly worked in the faculty of business and law.
The current author is Dr Nicole Lux who will continue to lead the UK study as well as expansion into France and Spain. She keeps in touch with academic peers in Germany at Regensburg University who launched a German lending report several years ago.
It is thought that new market reports could be launched as early as this year.
The De Montfort survey is sponsored by around a dozen industry organisations, lenders and real estate firms. It covers lending volumes and financing terms as well as pricing information and market share by lender groups.
Expansion of lending research is likely to be welcomed by industry bodies such as the British Property Federation and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council Europe which have lobbied for greater information and transparency on European lending since the global financial crisis.
