A major industry survey of senior real estate leaders, corporate office occupiers and global institutional investors has revealed the impact of Covid-19 on UK real estate and priorities for the sector as it moves beyond the pandemic.

International law firm CMS has published its findings from an extensive piece of industry research in a report entitled: Real Estate Re-set: offices and purpose beyond the pandemic.

This is the eighth year CMS has produced its annual real estate report, which acts as a barometer for the industry and an outlook for the market, while focusing on a key topic. In addition to gauging high-level perspective from industry leaders, occupiers and investors, this year’s report also highlights ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) as a fundamental subject that is having a transformative effect on the both the principles and mechanics of real estate.

The quantitative survey took place in July 2020 and was conducted by FTI Consulting on behalf of CMS, gathering the opinions of over 1,500 occupiers across the UK, Europe and Asia, including large, SME and micro organisations. The key findings of the report according to subject have been highlighted below:

• 42% of industry leaders say they are pessimistic about the outlook for the UK real estate market (with 34% neutral), compared with 31% in 2019 and 24% in 2018.