South: Coastline proves attractive for hotel investment

Investment into the South East and home counties hotel market reached a total of £980 million across 46 transactions in 2017, 60% above the levels recorded in 2016. The region accounted for 18% of the total UK volume of £5.4 billion, according to international real estate adviser Savills.

Characterised by individual sales predominantly in the £1m to £10m bracket, the average transaction size in the region was circa £15 million notes Savills. Eight transactions took place for assets between £10m and £20m and nine on assets over £20m. The average price per key for the south east and home counties reached £135,702 in 2017, in comparison to the UK average of £145,303.

The firm notes key deals in the area such as the sales of Hilton London Heathrow Airport, The Grand Harbour hotel in Southampton and Hunton Park hotel in Hertfordshire. The south east and home counties benefit from a popular coastline with £66m of the region’s transactions occurring on the coast, predominantly in Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton. The majority of deals occurred in the second half of the year with H2 2017 seeing £740m of transactions compared to H1 in which £240m was completed. 

Georgie Liggins, surveyor in the hotels team at Savills, commented: “The south east and home counties hotel market has had a strong year driven by the region’s close proximity to both London and the coast. We expect the coastal markets to do particularly well in 2018 as tourist numbers and therefore spend rises with the increasing popularity of staycations and the regeneration of several key seaside resorts.”