Harrogate property investment firm adds £10 million to its portfolio

North Yorkshire property investment company Rougemont Estates has reported a successful first half of 2014 with the addition of £10 million new acquistions.

With another £6.6 million deal in the pipeline, the investment company says they are confident of finding more “pockets of value” around the country over the next six months.

Investments this year include a 120,000 sq ft whisky maturation warehouse near to Edinburgh Airport, which is backed by drinks giant Diageo on a 15-year lease.

Another significant investment was the £1.5 million acquisition of Stamford House in York, which is home to the law firm Lupton Fawcett Denison Till.

Managing Director James Craven says that, despite fierce competition from major institutional funds, they are confident of buying more quality assets for their investors and continuing to deliver income returns of up to eight per cent per annum – compared to the one per cent you can usually expect from the mainstream banks.

He says: “It is still difficult to find the right properties, but there are still pockets of value out there. There’s more confidence back in the market and tenants are beginning to commit to longer leases. We are also seeing a growing appetite among high net wealth individuals for this type of investment.

“With this type of investment there is a huge difference between the return on a Government gilt, which is typically 2.5-3 per cent. Commercial property is delivering average returns of around 6-7 per cent and we are doing better than that.”