An interview with Angelica Donati was published on Estate Agent Today (EAT), the leading online news publication for the estate agency industry, by CEO of EAT Nat Daniels.
Why did you decide to halt any investment in the UK until after Brexit is resolved?
I decided to halt investment in the UK due to the uncertainty of how Brexit would be handled and how it would play out, and recent events have proven me right! Three years on, the waters are murkier than ever and we don’t even know who will be leading negotiations for the UK as of next month… let alone what their outcome will be.
Economic cycles can be modelled to a degree, but politics are driven by people and there is no way to account for that, especially in this strange new world we live in. Further, as a euro denominated investor, I was not comfortable continuing to be long sterling (or go longer than my current position) when all evidence pointed to a firmly negative outlook. On the currency, at least, I think we’ve put the worst behind us, as long as the UK steers clear of a hard Brexit.
What do you think Brexit – if it ever actually takes place – will mean for the UK housing market? Will it make it less, or more, attractive to outside investment?
Brexit can only bring bad news for the UK housing market. Today, the “Theresa May” version is pretty much priced in, and this has already caused an increase in domestic costs due to the currency devaluation. Let’s not forget that the UK is a net importer of pretty much everything, including labour and materials such as steel which are essential to construction.
