The real estate advisory firm’s monthly index describes the UK property market as having seen steady returns in August, while citing central London office space as performing exceptionally well.
Indeed, office space in the heart of the capital performed better than any other sub-sector of the British property market, with returns of one per cent and capital growth of around 0.6 per cent during the period.
Meanwhile, CBRE’s data also shows that returns on outer London office space increased by around half a per cent, while in the rest of the UK they rose by 0.7 per cent.
Head of UK economics and forecasting with CBRE, David Wylie, commented: “With values up 18.6 per cent from their lows in the middle of last year, investors are looking for more compelling signs of recovery in occupier markets before committing further to the market.
“The significant exceptions to this broader picture are the central London office and retail markets, where there is already evidence of income growth and investor appetite still appears to be strong.”
Office space rental values across the UK were said to have remained virtually unchanged from July through to August, with central London again the exception, seeing an increase of around half a per cent.
Editor’s notes: In February 2023, CBRE’s UK Monthly Index recorded that all property capital values declined by 0.5 per cent, whilst industrial and office rental values increased by 0.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent compared to January.
According to CBRE’s April 2026 Monthly Index, at the all-property level, capital values remained stable.
Rental values increased by 0.1 per cent, and total returns were 0.4 per cent throughout the month.
Both retail and industrial capital values remained flat, while office capital values decreased by 0.1 per cent.
Over the same period, industrial rental values increased by 0.1 per cent, while both retail and office rental values remained stable.
The total return for offices was 0.4 per cent month-on-month.
Real Estate:UK published a report in May 2026 stating that total UK commercial property investment reached £9.7 billion in Q1 2026, which was almost 40 per cent below the five-year Q1 average.
Office space had attracted £2.9 billion in investment in the quarter and accounted for approximately 30 per cent of total volumes, with the majority of these offices being in London.
The low volumes in the first quarter of the year contrasted with a strong 2025 in which London office investment hit £9.47 billion, up 52 per cent on 2024’s volumes.
The low investment volumes in the first quarter of 2026 were attributed to heightened global uncertainty, triggered by the US invasion of Iran in March.
In 2025, the US was the dominant source of overseas capital, with £18.2 billion of investment in UK commercial property during the year, and following the invasion, the dollar was weak.