UK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Colin Rodrigues and Harminder Sandhu, Hawkins Hatton Corporate Lawyers Ltd
to its scarcity. It is also predicted that technology companies will seek new office space, as (for example) artificial intelligence is likely to see its largest growth in 2024 due to increased private equity investment. Real estate investment and activity in the logis - tics sector and for big sheds saw a decline in 2023 compared to 2022. This was probably also reflective of the challenges facing consumers, and of a noticeable change in consumer spend - ing on lifestyle as opposed to material items. This is consistent with casualties in the hospital - ity sector (among restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, etc) throughout 2023. Meanwhile, there are new areas of growth for real estate investors in wellness-focused busi - nesses. CBRE Group reported that the health and fitness club sector reached an all time high in 2023 of GBP3.52 billion. This is consistent with consumers focusing on health and well- being expenditure despite the increased cost of living.
Falling mortgage rates will give the residential sector the boost it needs to recover in 2024. The cost of construction will continue to affect new home completions; however, the fall in infla - tion should stabilise price costs. The senior liv - ing market is also rising above the parapet as investors see rental growth. The government has placed greater focus on seeking growth in this sector, though a new government may lead to a change of policy. The one certain thing is that the year ahead is set to be a monumental year, both globally and in the UK, in terms of political and economic reform.
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