And Helical Bar offered some hope last week after announcing it has raised ВЈ500m to invest in new speculative developments.
Chief executive Michael Slade believes the property market has turned a corner and is targeting retail, student accommodation and retirement living schemes to lead the sector out of recession.
He said: “At a time of such economic uncertainty it is always easy to see the downside risks but lose sight of the opportunities provided when assets are priced at cyclical lows. All the ingredients are coming into place for sustained recovery, similar to that which followed the difficulties of the 1970s and early 1990s, and we have positioned our business to benefit from this.
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“Well let properties may be the most defensive but there is more upside on risk assets and this is where Helical is now concentrating its efforts. Looking forward, Helical is confident that we will see great value emerge.
“We are particularly enthusiastic about food store developments, retirement village projects, student accommodation developments and our Government office campus schemes.”
